As it ever was, if you want to download Fortnite direct from an Android device, you need a Samsung Galaxy phone.
This was also the case from August 2018, when – cue a massive marketing campaign – Fortnite was exclusively rolled out on Galaxy devices.
Epic then launched its own third party Android launcher.
Fortnite wasn’t officially available on Google Play until 22 April 2020, something that now appears more like the first part of a cunning legal manoeuvre than the climbdown it originally did.
Samsung’s the one
Anyhow, Samsung is now pushing Fortnite’s Mega Drop deal through its Galaxy Store, which sees Epic permanently dropping the price of its V-Bucks by 20 per cent across all devices.
The addition of an unofficial payment option from Epic was what triggered Apple and Google to boot Fortnite from their app stores.
Whether this new exclusive has any impact in terms of driving sales of Samsung devices is another matter, of course.
It seems unlikely now but with Samsung recently rolling out five new high end devices – including the Note20 and Tab S7 tablets and the Fold2 phone.
So it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Fortnite-based imagery appearing in its marketing materials, even if the game itself isn’t a killer app for the target demographics of these particular productivity-focused devices.
Nevertheless, the longer this situation continues, it will be fascinating to see if Fortnite could play any role in transitioning younger iPhone users towards Samsung.
It’s worth noting that in its ongoing legal case, Epic claims Google pressured other device OEMs such as OnePlus and Huawei not to strike similar deals to push Fortnite outside of the official Play Store.
When Fortnite was only available through Galaxy Store (albeit at the height of its hype) it was estimated that the game generated $60 million, compared to around $10 million during the short period during which it was available on the Google Play Store.
