INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Epic Games continues to spread the love… to consumers, at least.Following the launches of Fortnite Battle Royale on iOS earlier this year
and Fortnite for the Nintendo Switch earlier this summer, Epic Games is now confirming that the Android version of the game will be
available exclusively through the Fortnite website.Users can visit Fortnite.com and download the Fortnite Launcher, which will then allow
them to load Fortnite Battle Royale onto their devices.When asked why Epic would choose to distribute the game via their own website instead
the more official channel of the Google Play Store, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told TechCrunch in an email:On open platforms like PC, Mac,
and Android, Epic 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.Of course, Sweeney didn&t
mention the 30 percent fee that goes to Google each time a user makes an in-app purchase, but it hard to imagine that not a factor in the
decision.In-game purchases are a huge source of revenue for Epic
After all, Fortnite Battle Royale is still a free download across all platforms
That said, Epic Games has already made more than $1 billion on the game through in-game purchases alone
For context on that 30 percent fee, Epic Games is making approximately $2 million per day as of July, according to Sensor Tower.Using a
virtual currency called V-Bucks, players can buy skins, pick axes, gliders and emotes, none of which offer a competitive advantage
Epic declined to clarify if mobile users have the same purchasing behavior as PC and console players
But if they do on Android, Epic will make 100 percent of the revenue.Epic Games also declined to give an exact date for the launch, still
simply saying that the game will launch this &summer.&That said, you can expect to see the same game, and the same cross-play compatibility,
on the Android version of Fortnite Battle Royale when it launches.One potential drawback to the launch will be security
As Android Police points out, loads of people will enable unknown sources in settings, forgetting to turn it off after, which could end up
being a problem down the line.We&ll be sure to let you know more specific information around the launch date and supported devices as soon
as we hear more from Epic Games.
