Fortnite heads to Google Play Store

Fortnite for Android launched in 2018, but it wasn’t available in the Google Play Store. Those interested in playing the Android version of the popular battle royale game had to install it directly and not via an app store, a process known as sideloading. That changed Tuesday when developer Epic Games made Fortnite available on the Google Play Store. 

With Fortnite’s debut on Google Play, Epic released a statement that doesn’t hold back on how the company feels about Google’s policies. 

“Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store,” the developer said Tuesday in an emailed statement.

“We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future,” the statement continued, “so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field.”

Epic says it will continue to operate Fortnite on the Epic Games App and out of Google Play. 

Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Epic’s statement.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney back in 2018 explained the company’s risky decision, saying games would benefit from competition among software sources on Android.