When Fortnite Battle Royale launches on Android they will bypass the Google Play Store, instead offering it directly from Epic Games’ own website. Most apps developers don’t have this luxury as the services Google offers would be critical to keeping their business alive.
Epic Games believes that the game is so popular that it will draw enough players to its own website for the Android download. By doing so, this will cost Google approximately $50 million this year in platform fees.
Fornite has already grossed over $180 million on iOS devices, where it has been exclusively available since March 15th. Since the company had to distribute this through the App Store, they give Apple a 30 percent cut of all its in-app spending, resulting in a total of $54 million so far.
By not launching on the Google Play Store, Epic Games will get to pocket a lot more of the earnings it makes from the Android version of Fortnite.
By downloading the game off Epic’s website, you will have to enable the setting to allow app installs from unknown sources. Security researchers are warning that Epic Games’ decision sets a dangerous precedent because it encourages people to remove the default security protections from their device.
[via Sensor Tower]
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