Fortnite Mobile on Android Might Not Be Available in the Google Play Store

Fortnite is still coming to the Android family of devices, but it appears as though it might not be a download available through the Google Play Store.

The Android is the last frontier for Fortnite Battle Royale with the game expanding to every other platform imaginable by now, iOS devices and the Nintendo Switch platform being the most recent releases. Epic Games' mobile site for Fortnite still says that "Android support is coming within the next few months," but a new report about the Android version suggests that that support won't be coming via the Google Play Store where most apps are found.

XDA Developers reported today that claimed as much while citing evidence found in the source code for Epic Games' mobile page. The outlet shared an image that shows the code in question with instructions regarding the installation of Fortnite on Android devices. Amid lines about privacy on Android devices and getting started with Fortnite, the most important part of the code to notice is the line that says "Download and install Fortnite through your browser."

The same lines in the code were also featured in some instructional images that XDA Developers say were shared by a Redditor with the username of /u/thesbros. After managing to force Epic Games' site to show the images below, the same how-tos for downloading Fortnite on Android devices as the ones seen in the code were displayed, guides that direct players to their browser to download the battle royale game instead of going through the Google Play Store.

Downloading apps outside of the normal app store isn't something that's all too uncommon with Android devices as it's one of the luxuries of using those mobile platforms instead of iOS devices. Having the game available through the Google Play Store would certainly make it much more visible for the more casual player and Android user who doesn't want to go through extra steps to download the game, so it's unclear why Epic Games would choose to make it available only outside of the Google Play Store if that is the case.

It was also reported last week that Fortnite Battle Royale might be coming to one specific Android first before the rest of the devices get the game. Another report from XDA Developers indicated that the game would be an exclusive on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 for one month before it releases on all other devices, though that hasn't been confirmed yet.

Fortnite does not yet have a release date for Android devices.