Veronika Mikhailova

Fortnite appeared on Google Play. Epic Games said they released the game “under duress”

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Android users have finally got a mobile Fortnite. The game was released on Google Play a year and a half after its release on PC. Before that, Epic Games flatly refused to release a popular title in this store. And even now the company is not too happy.

Now the Android version of Fortnite can be downloaded not only from the Epic Games website, but also from the official Google store. This step came after very difficult negotiations between the companies.

What didn’t suit Epic Games

The “epics” have a number of complaints about Google’s mobile store. The head of the publisher Tim Sweeney has repeatedly called the following:

  • Google Play takes 30% of its revenue from projects. Note that Epic Games has released Fortnite in the App Store, which takes the same commission. It’s just that Google allegedly demanded to conduct IAP through its payment service, which Epic Games considered illegal;
  • Google advertises their direct competitors in the search results. “When you search for our Fortnite on iOS, you are often offered ads for PUBG or Minecraft. Whoever bought the ad in front of us is higher in the search results than Fortnite,” Sweeney noted.;
  • After all, Epic Games wanted to work directly with their users, without the involvement of third parties. In the case of iOS, this is not possible (and therefore Fortnite immediately went to the App Store). On Android, the game began to be distributed through the Epics’ own website.

Why Epic Games changed its mind

Epic Games blame Google for the fact that Fortnite has been released in the mobile store. The game’s publisher believes that the Internet giant forced him to post the game by putting up artificial barriers.

Earlier, the “epics” have already said that Google has configured the security protocol of its OS so that it marks applications not from Google Play as malicious. When trying to download Fortnite from a separate site, players see pop-up windows with virus warnings.

The mobile store also has a Google Play Protect feature. According to Epic Games, it blocks software downloaded outside of Google Play.

In addition, according to them, Google uses both business and PR tools against “breakaway” games and companies. She allegedly does everything to pass off software not published in her store as malicious.

The combination of these reasons forced the publisher Fortnite to make a deal with the Android company. And he is not happy about it.

“We expect Google to revise its policy and view on business relations in the near future so that all developers can freely work with users on Android and Google Play, as well as conduct IAPs through open services, including payment services,” Epic Games said in a statement.

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