Google indicates via notification that Fortnite is not offered in the Play Store

Users of an Android smartphone or tablet who enter a search term such as “Fortnite Battle Royale” or a variation thereof in the Play Store will see a special message that the Android version of Fortnite is not available via Google Play.

When searching for Fortnite in the Play Store, only the game Battle Breakers is shown as an available app from developer Epic Games. It was already clear that Fortnite for Android would not be released via the Play Store. Epic Games has been offering the game since Thursday via its own site through an apk.

Fortnite for Android is currently available exclusively as a beta version on Samsung devices. It concerns the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, S8, S8+ S9, S9+ Note 8, Note 9, Tab S3 and Tab S4. Owners of smartphones from other manufacturers will have to wait until August 12 to access the beta. Epic Games has published a list of compatible smartphones; it mainly concerns high-end devices.

Fortnite was released on Thursday with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, as previously predicted by XDA Developers, among others. Epic Games says it will only release the game independently for financial reasons; the company does not have to hand over thirty percent of the revenues to Google. The company also says that it can build a more direct customer relationship with the user via the APK.

Recently, there was a rumor that only owners of the Note 9 and Tab S4 would get exclusive access to the game for a limited time. That turned out to be wrong, but owners of both recently released Samsung devices do have an advantage over owners of the other devices: they get a special Galaxy skin. Note 9 owners can also count on 15,000 V-Bucks, the virtual in-game currency in Fortnite.