Finally, there’s news and official information about Fortnite on Android, but it confirms the wrong rumor. Fortnite will indeed skip the “Google Play” store and will offer Fortnite Mobile for download on its own site.
Fortnite Android comes without Google Play – only via direct download
This is what Epic officially says today: Epic has officially confirmed what was already circulating as a rumor in the media. When Fortnite appears on Android, it will be through its own APK download and not via the Google Play store.
Much ado: There is a lot of PR information surrounding this. Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney says they are seeking “direct contact” with the customer.
And of course, they want to save the 30% fee that they would otherwise have to pay to Google from every dollar.
Dataminers had already found this information a few days ago.
When is the release on Android?
Much more important is what information Epic has not provided:
- There is still no information about the release date on Android phones
- And there is still no information whether Fortnite Android will actually be exclusive to an expensive Samsung phone for 30 days.
New rumors more exciting than the official ones
While the official information is rather bland, there are hot infos from elsewhere today:
- The latest rumor even suggests that Fortnite Android will run exclusively on Samsung phones for three to four months. Initially, 30 days only on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, later another 60 to 90 days exclusively on other Samsung phones: on “selected models of the Galaxy S” series. It is assumed that this refers to Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy S8.
This information comes from the site “Android Headline.” They claim to have learned it from a source familiar with these matters.
Release of Fortnite on Android “for everyone” only in November?
What is the timeline if the rumors are true?
- The announcement of Fortnite Android would be on August 9 at Samsung Unpacked – together with star streamer Ninja
- The release of Fortnite Mobile on the 1000€ phone “Samsung Galaxy Note 9” would be on August 24
- On other Samsung Galaxy phones, Fortnite Mobile could be played from September 24, 2018
- And the remaining players, without a Samsung phone, could only run Fortnite Mobile on their Android devices by the end of November or December.
Official announcement further strengthens rumors
What is interesting here? The interesting thing is that Epic’s official statement strengthens the credibility of the Samsung rumor.
Because Epic announces the release without stating the release date. An announcement just to say that Fortnite Android skips the “Google Play” store is actually nonsense. Customers want to know the release date and not such download details.
The strategy only makes sense if they really want to leverage another event to announce the release. It now strongly indicates that Fortnite will initially be exclusive to Samsung phones. The question will be: For how long?
