Fans of Fortnite rejoiced this week after Epic, the game’s publisher, announced the game is launching on Google Play. This release comes 18 months after Epic decided to boycott the Play store and release directly on Android, so they don’t have to pay Google’s 30% fee on transactions.
After two days on Google Play, Fortnite finally broke the top 10 games chart, sitting at #7 right now. It also made it into the Top 20 Overall, placing at #19, right below Snapchat and Instagram.
The game didn't top the charts overnight, but given how rushed this release feels and the negativity Epic echoed towards Google and its policies, we don’t think these ranks are bad.
The downloads agree. According to our App Intelligence, day-one for Fortnite on Android netted Epic more than 125,000 new downloads. For comparison, the title was downloaded a tad over 100,000 times on the iOS App Store on the same day.
These are very early and somewhat incomplete numbers, but show many opportunities for Fortnite, especially in countries where Android is the dominant platform such as India, Indonesia, Mexico, and many others.
We're eager to see how the game performs over the next few weeks, and especially interested in seeing whether going through Google Play will be worth having to part with 30% of revenue.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.