Epic Games’ wildly popular battle royale title, Fortnite, is getting a beta release on Android on August 9, however, this will initially be exclusive to Samsung devices. As detailed by CNET, Fortnite beta invites will be sent first to Samsung device owners, and it can be downloaded to Samsung Galaxy S7 phones and above, which means the S7, S7 Edge, S8, S8 Plus, Note 8, S9, S9 Plus.
The exclusivity period for Samsung will last from August 9 to August 12, during which it can be downloaded through the Fortnite Android website. The Fortnite beta will become widely available on other Android devices from August 12. Those that purchase the new Samsung Note 9 or Galaxy Tab S4 will get access to the new Galaxy outfit, which you can see below.
Anyone without a Samsung device can sign-up to be invited on the Fortnite Android site. Epic has also released a list of other devices that the beta will be playable on:
- Google: Pixel / Pixel XL, Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL
- Asus: ROG Phone, Zenfone 4 Pro, 5Z, V
- Essential: PH-1
- Huawei: Honor 10, Honor Play, Mate 10 / Pro, Mate RS, Nova 3, P20 / Pro, V10
- LG: G5, G6, G7 ThinQ, V20, V30 / V30+
- Nokia: 8
- OnePlus: 5 / 5T, 6
- Razer: Phone
- Xiaomi: Blackshark, Mi 5 / 5S / 5S Plus, 6 / 6 Plus, Mi 8 / 8 Explorer / 8SE, Mi Mix, Mi Mix 2, Mi Mix 2S, Mi Note 2
- ZTE: Axon 7 / 7s, Axon M, Nubia / Z17 / Z17s, Nubia Z11
As previously detailed, Epic will bypass the Google Play Store for Fortnite’s Android release and directly distribute the game to players. This allows Epic Games to make more money from the free-to-play title, as Google will not be entitled to a portion of the money spent on in-game transactions. In a statement shared with GameSpot, Epic said the decision allowed the company to get around the 30 percent “store tax” that would ordinarily be applicable to purchases made on Google Play.
“It’s a high cost in a world where game developers’ 70 percent must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games,” Epic explained. “And it’s disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service.”
Although Fortnite is available on iOS, Apple’s ecosystem does not allow for similar measures to be taken for those devices. Nevertheless, the game has become incredibly successful. Analysts have said that Fortnite’s iOS version made an average of $2 million per day over a 10-day period, following the start of Season 5 in July. By August, Fortnite on iOS had crossed over 100 million downloads.
If you’re on the hunt for a new phone and don’t mind splashing out a bit of cash, check out CNET’s Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 preview, which breaks down all the features.
Steep was originally announced during the Switch’s reveal event in January 2017. It was shown alongside games like Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2 and more in a sizzle reel, though while most other games in the video have since been released, Steep for the Switch went relatively radio silent.