Fortnite Bypassing Play Store Can Cost Google Up To $50 Million This Year

• Fortnite is scheduled for launch on Android this year and the game skipping the Play Store in favor of its own distribution channel for the platform can cost Google around $50 million.
• The popular battle royale game has managed to cross $180 million in revenue on iOS since its release in March 2018.
• It is likely that Android as a platform will see similar spending platforms on the game’s in-game transactions and Google may lose out on its 30% cut.

Fortnite is finally headed to Android devices but Google has little reason to cheer as developer Epic Games will not be publishing the game on the Play Store. Instead, Fortnite will bypass all Android marketplaces and self-publish the app through its own website. It allows Epic Games to skip the 30% fees the developers would have to pay to Google.

When Fortnite was released on iOS, it was in a closed invitation-only format before being available for download publicly. A similar release pattern is expected for Android. Apple’s platform saw a staggering $180 million in in-game transactions so far and similar figures can be expected on Android too. With Google not receiving its 30% cut, the amount of platform fees the tech giant misses out on is approximately $50 million for the remainder of 2018. The potential revenue Google loses out on will increase with each Battle Pass that releases for the game every 10 weeks.

Fortnite Battle Royale will release on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 as timed-exclusive and the game will be pre-installed out of the box on Samsung’s new flagship. After the tie-up with the Korean manufacturer ends, Epic Games will be offering an APK download for the popular battle royale game through its website for all eligible devices. Sideloading apps on Android is fairly easy and you simply need to enable the option from your phone settings. The game is expected to release at the end of September on all popular Android devices along with the Season 6 Battle Pass.

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