Why Fortnite has taken a year to hit the Google Play Store

Fortnite has been on Android for over a year. The Battle Royale-style video game came to iOS first and months later it became compatible with Google's operating system, but with a negative point: you couldn't download from the Play Store, instead you had to install it from the Epic Games website, in our mobile browser. This made the process more complicated for some users. Not to mention security issues: we might end up on a malicious page and download malware instead of the game.After a year, Fortnite has already arrived on Google Play, but why has it taken so long?

The Google app store is home to thousands and thousands of games and apps. Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, decided not to apply the video game to the download platform for a simple reason: Google's commissions are very high Google requests the 30 percent of each app sale, in the event that it is paid, or micro-payment, if the application and the game have in-app purchases. In this case, Fortnite has payments within the application. The battle pass is priced at 10 euros and we can get V-Bucks to buy in the game store.

Google, in exchange for that 30 percent, offers the application on its App download platform, one of the largest in the world. Not only does it promote it on the first page and include it in categories, but it also offers all the features of Google Play (its Play Protect protection system, technical evaluation, server…).However, for Epic Games a commission of 30 percent seemed too much. Especially at a time when Fortnite was the most downloaded game in the world, with a 50 percent market share. The best option was to look for an alternative, and Android offers it: download an APK from your browser and install the game.

Epic Games had an alternative to Google Play, but with its cons

Here the game developer company had work to do. On the one hand, to prevent users from inadvertently downloading a malicious file from a deceptive website instead of the game For this, Epic Games gave a series of safety measures security, explaining that the game can only be downloaded from its official website, which includes SSL certification and registered logos.

On the other hand, there was the problem of game updates, which are almost weekly. The option of downloading the updated APK every week was not viable, so they looked for another method. The application that is downloaded from the web is not the video game, but an installer. This is left installed on the system, and when a new version of Fortnite is needed, it will be downloaded from the first APK. The negative point was that we had two Apps to play Fortnite.

Apple also offers high commissions in its App Store, but the difference is that in iOS there is no other way to download an application than through the application storeSo if you want users with an iPhone and iPad to play your game, you'll have to accept that fee.

Finally Epic Games has accepted that 30 percent commission, and Fortnite is now available for download on Google Play like any other app. It is clear that the video game is no longer as popular as it was a year and a half ago, and it is not bad that Fortnite is in view of millions and millions of users who visit Google Play every day.

You can download Fortnite here.