Fortnite Mobile, the massively popular free-to-play Battle Royale game, will soon launch on Android, but Epic Games may be making a big mistake in bypassing the Google Play Store.
Fortnite celebrated its first anniversary in June by reaching the milestone of more than 125 million players worldwide. This number does not yet include Android gamers, though it appears that they will have to be extra careful if they intend to download Fortnite Mobile on their smartphones and tablets.
Fortnite Mobile Android Release Date
Fortnite Mobile for Android is coming soon, but it will first be a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 exclusive for 30 days. With the Galaxy Note 9 to be unveiled on Aug. 9, gamers may expect Fortnite Mobile for Android to become widely available within September.
Fortnite Mobile will play a huge role in Galaxy Note 9 marketing, according to XDA Developers. The latest Samsung flagship smartphone will be pitched as a gaming device due to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip and vapor chamber heat pipe, which will keep the Galaxy Note 9 cool during extended gaming sessions.
Gamers, however, should not wait for Fortnite Mobile to arrive on the Google Play Store. Apparently, it will be downloaded to Android devices in some other way.
Fortnite Mobile Android Download: Not Through Google Play Store
According to a follow-up XDA Developers report on Fortnite Mobile for Android, the game may not be coming to the Google Play Store.
Code from the official Fortnite Mobile website revealed instructions on how to download and install the game on Android smartphones. Users will download Fortnite Mobile through their browser and will then have to agree to certain security permissions "to install any app outside of the Play Store."
There is some speculation that Epic Games will not be pushing out Fortnite Mobile for Android through the Google Play Store to avoid having to give Google a portion of the game's earnings. It is estimated that Fortnite Mobile makes $2 million per day on iOS, and if the game performs as well on Android, Epic Games will have to cough up $600,000 due to Google's policy of getting a 30 percent cut.
That is certainly a lot of money, but bypassing the Google Play Store already looks like a bad idea. Gamers are already falling for fake Fortnite Mobile for Android apps, exposing them to malware. If the official app is downloaded through browsers instead of the Google Play Store, gamers will continue to be exposed to fake apps that may compromise the sensitive information on their Android smartphones.
