Epic Games recently submitted an application for Fortnite to be featured on the Google Play Store, Android's main app marketplace, with the caveat that it could use its own payment platform for the game - an application that was declined by Google. As noted in the Gamasutra post by gaming research analyst Louise Shorthouse, Epic's efforts to gain access to the Google Play Store could be indicative of Fortnite battles on the Android platform, where it's currently offered exclusively through Epic's own storefront.
Epic has long disputed with Google the 30% discount that Google requires of its developers to be listed in the Play Store. This percentage is an industry standard, with platforms like Steam taking the same amount, but Epic has worked to counter this by releasing its own platform, the Epic Games Store. This platform only takes a 12% cut, in an effort to bring more money to the developers.
Epic has been aggressive in creating competition with these other platforms with the acquisition of several paid exclusives. Steam changed its model slightly, likely in response to Epic's model, but other PC and console storefronts resisted the change to the 70/30 model they were using.
Other battle royales, like PUBG, have thrived on mobile, though their PC and console performance has declined. This can be attributed, at least in part, to their presence on Google Play, where their games are front and center for consumers to view and download.
Epic has Fortnite available for download on their website, but not having it on the easily accessible in-app store likely affected game performance.
Epic plans to release an Android version of its store, but this has been delayed indefinitely, showing that their priority is the PC store, and reflecting their struggles to get the game to Android.
But Google probably won't change its model, and if Epic wants to see growth on Android, it may have to make a tough decision. Is the company willing to give up 30% of its revenue in order to gain this exposure and increase growth?
