Fortnite to be directly distributed on Android to avoid Google's 30% cut

Fortnite is a massively popular game (although maybe not so much with our audience here) and one of the big unknowns for the game has surrounded its Android release. Epic Games has finally announced at least part of those plans and it's a bit of a surprise: Fortnite will not be released through the Google Play Store, according to Epic Games. Instead, the game will be directly distributed via the Epic Games website and a Fortnite game installer.

The rumors have claimed Fortnite would be a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 timed-exclusive, and there's no reason to think that is incorrect at this time. But, after that is done, Epic Games has officially confirmed it will dodge the Google Play Store. Epic Games claimed two main reasons for this: first is to maintain a direct relationship with customers (which seems like a silly marketing rationalization) and second is to avoid the 30% cut that Google takes from Play Store purchases (we'll bet this is the real reason.)

This likely means that if there were an option to avoid the Apple App Store, Epic Games would have done so, because it has to pay the same 30% cut on iOS, but Apple doesn't allow any sideloading. Android does, so that opens up the option for Fortnite to be distributed via an installer APK. However, the other side of this is that it will likely lead to a ton of cracked versions of Fortnite spreading around the internet and packing malware. There are already plenty of fake Fortnite APKs out on the web, but this type of distribution could make it easier for hackers to use the real version of the game and just slip in some bad code or hijack the in-app payment methods for the game.

What do you all think? Are you even interested in Fortnite for Android? Do you agree with Epic's decision to avoid the Play Store?

source: The Verge