The Samsung Unpacked 2018 event took place for the company to unveil the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The founder and CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, made an appearance to share some major news regarding the Fortnite Android beta.
Sweeney revealed that the beta for their smash hit free-to-play battle royale game is now available for certain devices (view the list here). It will be launching for all other Android devices from August 12th. This will allow Android players to test out the game before its full release on the platform which is expected to launch later this summer.
Epic Games and Samsung have a partnership which gives Samsung Galaxy users exclusive access to the beta, meaning they can play right now. Samsung have been promoting their Galaxy Android devices as powerful systems for quite some time and believe that being able to run a game such as Fortnite efficiently proves just that.
Given that all the attention right now is focused on the new Note 9, other Android users will be hoping that Epic Games didn’t forget about their devices. Tim Sweeney has mentioned that Fortnite will only be able to run effectively on recently released high-end handsets. It’s estimated that only 12% of Android owners will be able to enjoy the title on an adequate level.
Potential players should be aware that the Fortnite Android beta will not be launching on Google Play. Epic Games have confirmed that they will not be using Google’s digital distribution service, this is likely due to the 30% cut of revenue which is taken from all transactions on the store. The developers will use their own launcher for the beta and full game.
To sign up for the Android beta or check if your device is eligible to play now, click here.
Fortnite is now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and iOS devices. Keep your eyes peeled for the full Android release this summer.
For more Fortnite here at Gaming Respawn, check out this article on the title earning $20 million in less than a month on iOS.