After 18 months of boycotting the Google Play Store, Epic Games has given in and put Fortnite on the Android app store. Up to this point, Fortnite was available on Android devices through a “third-party platform,” but not through the Play Store.
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In a statement to IGN, Epic called out Google’s practices towards third party software sources, saying that it hopes “Google will revise its policies and business dealing in the near future.” The full statement from Epic can be seen below.:
“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 does note that it will continue to support Fortnite on the Android devices through its third-party software, but will also be making it available on the Google Play Store to avoid Googe’s efforts to “outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store.”
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Similar to Steam, the Google Play store takes a 30% cut of revenue from all developers. In December 2018, Epic launched its own gaming store, which only takes a 12% cut from developers, leaving them with significantly more profit than Steam.
The store has generated $680 million since its first year of business and credits its exclusive titles for bringing in the majority of the revenue, a practice that has been criticized by a lot of gamers. However, Epic claims its only goal is to disrupt the status quo and would get rid of exclusives if Steam would change its revenue share policy.
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Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.
Source: IGN.com Epic Calls Out Google as Fortnite Heads to Play Store