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Citing 'Economic Efficiency,' Epic Says Fortnite's Upcoming Android App Won't Hit Google Play Store (theverge.com)
Fortnite developer Epic Games will not be distributing its massively popular game on Android because the Play Store takes a 30 percent cut of the revenue. Instead, the company plans to distribute the software to players via the official Fornite website, "where Android users can download a Fortnite Installer program to install the game on compatible devices," reports The Verge. From the report: For Fortnite on iOS, Epic decided to distribute the game on the App Store, most likely because it had no other method of getting iPhone users to easily download the software. (Apple, unlike Google, does not allow iOS users to download apps that are not first approved by its internal review processes and distributed through its proprietary marketplace.) With Google and its more open platform, Epic can get away with distributing the app itself. CEO Tim Sweeney says the primary motivation here is twofold. Epic wants to maintain its direct relationship with consumers. (The company currently distributes Fortnite on PC through its own Epic Games Launcher, instead of using Valve's popular Steam platform.)
The second reason is financial: Epic does not want to pay Google's 30 percent cut, especially considering the entire game is funded through in-app purchases. "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," Sweeney says. "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." But on mobile platforms that are open, like Android, "30 percent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service," he says. Sweeney adds that Epic is "intimately familiar with these costs" from its direct distribution of Fortnite on Mac and PC. There's no word as to when the Android version of Fortnite will be available, but rumors suggest it will be tied to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launch on August 9th.
The second reason is financial: Epic does not want to pay Google's 30 percent cut, especially considering the entire game is funded through in-app purchases. "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," Sweeney says. "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." But on mobile platforms that are open, like Android, "30 percent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service," he says. Sweeney adds that Epic is "intimately familiar with these costs" from its direct distribution of Fortnite on Mac and PC. There's no word as to when the Android version of Fortnite will be available, but rumors suggest it will be tied to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launch on August 9th.
I would rather have that money go to Epic (who actually built the game) than to Google (who is just doing some web hosting).
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I completely get why Epic wants to do this: 30% adds up to a lot of money for a game that pulls in hundreds of millions a month. But for the broader Android user base this is a terrible idea.
Having the ability to install external APKs and actually enticing non-technical users to do it are two different things. The average smartphone user isn't prepared to use external sources, and if they do, it's going to end up like malware on Windows. Which is to say there's going to be trojan APKs left and right pretending to be Fortnite, or Fortnite with hacks, etc.
Fortnite's original game mode - Save The World - was a zombie survival game. If users have to install APKs from unknown sources, we're going to be surviving a whole new kind of zombie outbreak...
Google was recently fined Billions by the EU for a supposedly closed system (eg requiring Google Play on all Android devices), yet Apple gets away with a far more closed system. Stupidity knows no bounds