Fortnite's Android version is no longer invite-only

Epic Games has dropped the invite-only status from the mobile version of its free-to-play battle royale game Fortnite.

Though the game remains in beta on Android, Epic now allows anyone with powerful enough Android device to download the game’s launcher directly from its website, either by loading the page on mobile or scanning a QR code from the desktop site. 

Fortnite’s Android release is particularly interesting since the game is one of the higher-profile titles to completely bypass the Android’s official Google Play Store and opt to instead offer downloads directly from Epic’s website. 

That move prevents Google from taking the typical 30 percent cut of revenue generated by Fortnite on Android (a cut Epic head Tim Sweeney said is “disproportionate to the cost of the services” platforms like Google Play provide) but also means that Android users looking to download Fortnite need to download the APK from Epic, agree to temporarily adjust their security settings, then download the game itself. But, even with the added steps and some early security concerns, Fortnite managed to snag 15 million downloads as an invite-only Android game in the first month of its release.