Google offered Epic $147 million to put Fortnite on the Play Store

Google offered Epic $147 million in 2018 to release Fortnite on the Play Store on Android. Fortnite was then released for Android, but could be installed in other ways and Google was afraid that other developers would also do the same.

Fortnite was the first popular game for Android that did not appear in the Play Store and Google therefore wanted to transfer $ 147 million to Epic over a period of three years to get the game in the Play Store. reports The Verge.

Google was afraid that Valve, Nintendo and Activision-Blizzard, among others, would follow suit and release their games outside the Play Store. Google paid Activision-Blizzard to prevent this, otherwise Google would lose its 30 percent share in purchases through those games. Because sideloading has always been possible on Android, Google cannot force developers to work through the Play Store. Apple has been doing this since the start of the App Store in 2008.

The information comes out as part of the lawsuit between Epic and Google. That case has been going on since 2021. The company wants to offer its own download stores and payment methods in its Android and iOS apps, and believes that the companies behind these platforms, Apple and Google, have too much power. A judge previously ruled against Epic and that is why there is no Epic download store on iOS yet. Epic and Apple both appealed that ruling.

Epic Games’ own payment system in Fortnite for iOS