Fortnite is set to release on Android outside of the Google Play Store

Avoiding Google’s marketplace offers Epic Games two benefits, though the primary reason behind the move is financial. Fortnite is one of the world’s most popular games, making it a guaranteed earner for restrictive platform owners like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Apple, who each take a cut from all game sales on their platform.

Like PC, Android offers the ability for software developers to cut out the middleman, allowing applications to be installed directly, removing these substantial sales fees from platform holders. Google takes a 30% cut from all sales on the Google Play Store, which is a fat chunk of change in Fortnite’s case, a game that has already earned the developer millions on iOS.  

Epic Games has already made similar moves on PC, releasing Fortnite exclusively on the Epic Games Launcher, removing the need to pay any major PC gaming platform holders like Valve, EA, GOG and Ubisoft. Android is the only other operating system that is this versatile, which is why Epic Games can take this route. 

Epic Games’ CEO has stated that this mode will also create a more “direct relationship” between the company and its customers, preventing any potential issues on the Google Play platform from affecting Fortnite’s upcoming Android version. Even so, the primary reason behind this business decision is purely financial, as Epic Games doesn’t believe that Google’s contribution to the Android platform is enough to merit a 30% cut of their games sales. More accurately, Epic Games knows that they can avoid these fees on the platform, something that is impossible on iOS, PS4, Xbox One and Switch. 

Below are several quotes from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. 

Epic wants to have a direct relationship with our customers on all platforms where that’s possible,   
 
    The great thing about the Internet and the digital revolution is that this is possible, now that physical storefronts and middlemen distributors are no longer required.

The 30 percent store tax is a high cost in a world where game developers’ 70 percent must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games,

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.