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'Fortnite' Avoiding Google Play Store's 30% Cut on Android Version
"Fortnite" will be available on Android, but not on the Google Play Store. Players will be able to download the installer for the game via the official "Fortnite" website, with which they can then download the game onto their compatible Android device.
The confirmation comes from Epic Games just days after speculation rose over whether or not "Fortnite" would come to Google Play, due to source code in the mobile version of "Fortnite" with instructions for users including notes like "This is necessary to install any app outside of the Play Store" found by XDA Developers. This particular prompt is referring to install of "Fortnite" on Android requiring users to select an option on their phone which opens up the device to allow third-party developers to make changes—an action some are calling a security threat.
For Epic, it's a way to bring the game "directly to customers," without the aid of a middleman. In a Q&A released by Epic, the publisher stated that, "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, Google's 30% for games released through its Play Store is also a motivator.
"Avoiding the 30% 'store tax' is a part of Epic's motivation," Epic Games' Tim Sweeney stated in a Q&A. "It's a high cost in a world where game developers' 70% must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games. And it's disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service. We're intimately familiar with these costs from our experience operating 'Fortnite' as a direct-to-customer service on PC and Mac."
See also: Epic Games' strategy for Fortnite on Android is stupid, greedy, and dangerous
Related: Epic Games Sues 14-Year-Old after He Files a DMCA Counterclaim for a How-to-Cheat Video
Sony Faces Growing 'Fortnite' Backlash At E3
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @01:58PM (1 child)
Is Cydia still active? I'm holding on to my jailbroken phone with an iron grip, but aiui Apple's bug bounties have dried up the availability of jailbreaks for years already.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday August 06 2018, @04:16PM
I'd love nothing more than to edit /etc/hosts on my iPhone 7, but I won't jailbreak it because I use it for iOS App development. I don't want to take the risk that it gets bricked during a firmware upgrade.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]