Fortnite for Android is finally on Google Play Store

Epic Games has given up its fight against Google’s Play Store platform and finally made Fortnite for Android available on the Google Play store.

When Epic launched Fortnite for Android in 2018, Epic was unhappy with Google’s (standard) thirty percent cut if they used the Google Play Store, so the company took the decision to bypass the Google Play Store for the Android game.

Epic released its own launcher for the game where users had to first download the installer, which in turn downloads the full game directly from Epic Games.

When Epic announced that they would be cutting out Google when distributing Fortnite for Android, there was major discussion on the interwebs regarding Android security concerns. Back in August 2018, these concerns turned out to be legitimate, as the first Fortnite Mobile for Android installer came with a very serious vulnerability, which allowed installation of virtually any app, including malware or other nasty surprises.

That changes from today, as you can now install Fortnite on the Play Store for the first time. Just like any other game, you can download and install it on your Android device from the Play Store, no sideloading or Epic Games Store required.

Epic said in a statement:

After 18 months of operating Fortnite on Android outside of the Google Play Store, we’ve come to a basic realization:

Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store.

Because of this, we’ve launched Fortnite for Android on the Google Play Store. We’ll continue to operate the Epic Games App and Fortnite outside of Google Play, too.

We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future, so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field.

Epic says it will continue to operate Fortnite on the Epic Games App and outside of Google Play.