In the name of saving money, Epic Games wants to make players track down the game outside the Play Store.
Epic Games has announced an interesting new detail about the upcoming Android version of Fortnite.
The massively popular battle royale game, which came to iOS in April and Switch in June, will be available on Android sometime this summer. However, Epic Games has just revealed you won’t be able to find and download it from the official Google Play Store. You’ll have to visit the Fortnite website in order to find the launcher, which will then download the game onto your Android mobile device.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney explained the reasoning behind this decision to TechCrunch: «On open platforms like PC, Mac, and Android, Epic’s goal is to bring its games directly to customers. We believe gamers will benefit from competition among software sources on Android. Competition among services gives consumers lots of great choices and enables the best to succeed based on merit.» What parents need to know about Fortnite PUBG Mobile tips and tricks: Become a battle royale master
That sounds like a bunch of marketing speaking, if you ask us. All we know is that now Epic Games won’t have to pay Google the 30-per cent cut it demands from in-app purchases. Sweeney essentially told GamesIndustry.biz he thinks that’s an unreasonable cut:
«There’s a rationale for this on console where there’s enormous investment in hardware, often sold below cost, and marketing campaigns in broad partnership with publishers. But on open platforms, 30 per cent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service,» the CEO explained.
So, in the name of saving money, it wants to make players track down the game outside the Play Store. Cool.
