Fortnite Battle Royale on Android: Epic Games confirm how to download Fortnite for Android

William Stanton Read more April 13, 2018

Fortnite Battle Royale is coming to Android, that is not new news. However, we finally know just how it’s going to arrive on Google’s operating system and have answers from Epic Games about why it’s decided to ditch the Google Play Store in favour of going directly to users.

Fortnite Battle Royale on Android: Epic Games confirm how to download Fortnite for Android

Yes, you read that correctly, Fortnite Battle Royale isn’t coming to the Google Play Store but it is still coming to Android. How, you ask, via a custom launcher downloadable from the Fortnite website.

Here’s everything you need to know about Fortnite Battle Royale on Android, with an overview of all things Fortnite right after.

Fortnite Battle Royale on Android: What you need to know

Fortnite Battle Royale on Android release date: When is it coming to Android?

Now we know for certain just how Epic Games plans to bring Fortnite Battle Royale to Android, do we know a release date for it just yet?

The short answer is no. Epic has given zero indication of when we can expect to play Fortnite Battle Royale on Android. The long answer, however, gives us some insight into just when things may appear to go live for budding Fortnite players on Android.

Select outlets, Alphr included, have been given access to Epic’s Android launcher for Fortnite to partake in a closed beta. Because of this, we know that its eventual release really can’t be far away. Rumours online have suggested an announcement around release on 9 August – the same day as Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 announcement – with a 24 August release date to coincide with the launch of Samsung’s phone.

It has not been confirmed to us if this is the case or not.

Fortnite Battle Royale on Android supported platforms: What can I play it on?

No concrete details have been given on what platforms Fortnite Battle Royale on Android will support. According to hackers who blew open Epic’s site code, it looks as if we’ll see Fortnite Battle Royale supported on almost all high-end mobile devices of the last couple of years. Amongst the devices tested are both the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, Motorola Moto G5 and Moto Z2 Play, the Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus and even the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Even Sony’s Xperia XZ and XZ1 have been listed as supported.

Unfortunately, there’s zero confirmation on exactly what Fortnite Battle Royale will release on, particularly if it’ll be locked to a single device on launch or not. However, without wanting to give too much away, the device we’ve been playing the beta build on isn’t the Galaxy Note 9, so it’s safe to say we’ll see it on other devices at launch.

Fortnite Battle Royale on Android how to download: How to play on mobile

So, naturally, you want to know how you can go about downloading Fortnite Battle Royale on Android, as it won’t simply be available on the Google Play Store.

While not as straightforward as opening Google’s app store and downloading Fortnite, things are actually still blissfully simple for those determined to get Fortnite running on their Android device.

By visiting the Epic Games website and selecting “Mobile” as your preferred platform for playing Fortnite you’ll be prompted into downloading a mobile launcher. It’s advisable that you visit the site on mobile to make the process even more straightforward. After providing permissions for your browser to download and install from “untrusted” sources, you can launch the .apk file that then lets you boot up Epic’s Fortnite downloader.

From there, open the app and follow the steps as it funnels Fortnite onto your Android device. A Fortnite icon will then appear on your phone’s desktop or app tray and you’ll launch it just like you would have done with any other app downloaded from the Google Play Store. It’s as simple as that.

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Fortnite Battle Royale on Android Epic Launcher: Why move away from Google Play?

To help us understand why Epic decided to move away from the Google Play Store, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney answered some of our pressing questions. Interestingly enough, the major reason the team decided to move away from Google Play Store was to avoid the hefty 30% cut Google takes on all purchases.

“Avoiding the 30% ‘store tax’ is a part of Epic’s motivation” Sweeney explained. “It’s a high cost in a world where developers’ 70% must cover all the cost of developing, operating and supporting their games… It’s disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth and customer service.”

Because Android is an open platform, Google does allow developers to use other app stores or distribution methods to get software into the hands of Android users. While Google certainly dominates the space, it’s really anyone’s game and Epic believes it can sustain itself outside of Google’s own marketplace. Interestingly, Sweeney simply states “yes” when asked if he would have done similar on iOS if Apple didn’t operate such a walled garden on its operating system.

Sweeney also doesn’t seem too phased about user acquisition numbers by not being on the Google Play Store. “Once it goes live, Fortnite for Android will be easy to find with a simple web search on Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo, just as with Fortnite for PC and Mac”.

Interestingly, Epic believes only 250 million of the 2.5 billion Android devices on the market are capable of actually running Fortnite due to its minimum requirements. Because of that, Sweeney only expects a “modest” uptick in players when Fortnite eventually launches on Android.

Fortnite Battle Royale: What is Fortnite?

Fortnite started life as a zombie survival game that saw players teaming up to defend against waves of savage zombie hordes – building structures to create defences. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a success. In fact, it was such a failure for Epic that it found itself in a dire situation that required a miracle to overcome.

Thankfully, that miracle turned out to be turning Fortnite into its own version of a “battle royale” game in the vein of PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds or PUBG for short. And thus Fortnite Battle Royale was born, a free-to-play multiplayer skirmish game that brought the best elements of Fortnite‘s sandbox survival to an open and online multiplayer world. Its cartoony visuals and wacky sense of humour resonated with the masses and its success today shows that Epic is onto a winning idea.

With more than 40 million users worldwide, billions of YouTube views, and celebrity players, Fortnite Battle Royale has clearly captured the hearts of the masses. It’s made unexpected appearances on the talk show, Ellen; broke Twitch records after streaming appearances by Drake; and has most recently been crowned YouTube’s most viewed game in the site’s 13-year history.

So, if you’re still trying to wrap your head around what Fortnite really is, here’s what you need to know.

How do you play Fortnite Battle Royale?

As with any typical battle royale game players, in this case, 100, are parachuted into a mysterious location where they must scavenge for weapons, supplies, armour and other gear, all while trying to avoid being killed by other players. While tackling that threat, players also have to deal with a randomly chosen safe zone they have to reach, or face being wiped out by the environment.

The safe zone gets progressively smaller as time goes on, forcing players closer and closer together – before a new safe zone is randomly selected somewhere else. Think Hunger Games in cartoon form.

In most battle royale games, the focus of the gameplay is often squared firmly around weaponry use and supply collection. While this is still an important aspect in Fortnite, there’s a gameplay element involving a pickaxe that makes it much more unique and sets it apart from PUBG.

With your pickaxe, you are able to gather resources to build structures and form defences. You can build bases to defend yourself, staircases leading to mountaintops and even build quick, temporary walls to block teammates from getting attacked. It’s clever and gives Fortnite’s silly world interesting depth.

The building mechanics really come into their own at night, when Fortnite’s monsters come out to play, a la Minecraft. If you’re not cowering in your hideout by the time night rolls around, you’re going to be in serious danger.

And there are so many beautiful environments, from Anarchy Acres and Fatal Fields to Greasy Grove, Lonely Lodge and Junk Junction, it’s a feast for the eyes as much as a feast for the mind.

Why is Fortnite so popular?

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There’s no all-encompassing reason why Fortnite is so popular, but it can be boiled down to a few key reasons.

Fortnite Battle Royale is free, it’s easy to play and it’s super accessible. The bright, cartoonish graphics and silly animations make it feel almost family friendly, despite the violent nature of the game’s content. Additionally, Fortnite hasn’t been plagued with the same kind of issues PUBG had at its launch. PUBG was hit with horrendous lag, extensive server drops and stuttering frame rates just after the game released.

The cross-platform compatibility of the game is another major contributing factor. Plus celebrities, high-profile streamers and talk show hosts have gravitated to it so readily.

What platforms is Fortnite playable on?

You can play Fortnite and its Battle Royale variant on Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Mac. You can also play the highly popular Battle Royale variant on Nintendo Switch, iOS and it’ll soon be coming to Android too.

While you might think Fortnite on mobile devices would lose some of the gameplay elements usually afforded to consoles, that’s not the case with Fortnite’s mobile game. In fact, you can enhance the experience by purchasing a Bluetooth game controller that connects to your iOS device.

What’s better is that people playing on the PS4 can face off against players on PC, Mac or iOS devices. Xbox players aren’t able to play against users on other platforms just yet, but it’s a feature Epic has confirmed will eventually be made available. However, thanks to a long-lasting rumoured Microsoft-Sony spat, Xbox players are unlikely to ever be able to play with PlayStation players.

How to download Fortnite Battle Royale

Fortnite Battle Royale on PS4

Go to the PlayStation Store on your PS4, search for Fortnite Battle Royale, and add the free, basic game to your basket.

Alternatively, if you’re on your computer, you can download the game from the PlayStation Store website.

Fortnite Battle Royale on Xbox One

Go to the Microsoft Store on your Xbox One, search for Fortnite Battle Royale, and download it.

Alternatively, if you’re on your computer, you can download the game from the Microsoft Store website.

Fortnite Battle Royale is also an Xbox One-enhanced game, so you can play Fortnite in all its 4K goodness.

Fortnite Battle Royale on PC

PC gamers can download Fortnite Battle Royale straight from Epic Games’ website. All you’ll need to do is create an Epic Games account, but once that’s done, you will be able to download the Fortnite installer.

Fortnite Battle Royale on iOS

Fortnite Battle Royale can be downloaded from the iOS App Store on any device running iOS 11 or later.