Ottawa gamers with Android phones have a reason to celebrate this week. Fortnite is officially back on Google Play worldwide, ending a saga that began back in 2020 and stretched through years of courtrooms, appeals, and workarounds.
What Happened?
Back in August 2020, Epic Games made a bold move: it introduced its own in-app payment system inside Fortnite on both iOS and Android, deliberately bypassing the 30% commission that Apple and Google take on digital purchases. Both companies swiftly removed Fortnite from their app stores in response, and Epic, clearly ready for the fight, filed antitrust lawsuits against both tech giants.
The legal battle with Google dragged on for years. A jury ruled in Epic's favour in late 2023, finding that Google had illegally monopolized the Android app distribution market. After appeals and negotiations, the result is now official: Fortnite is back on Google Play, available to download natively on Android devices worldwide.
Why This Matters for Mobile Gamers
For the past several years, Android users who wanted to play Fortnite had two options: sideload the APK directly from Epic's website (a process that required enabling installs from unknown sources, which many casual users avoided) or stream the game through a cloud gaming service like Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now.
Neither option was ideal. Sideloading is a barrier for less tech-savvy users, and cloud gaming requires a strong internet connection and introduces latency. A native Google Play install is faster, more reliable, and doesn't require jumping through hoops.
Ottawa's Gaming Community Gets a Win
Ottawa has a thriving gaming scene, from casual players to the competitive crowd that gathers at local gaming cafés and esports events around the city. Fortnite remains one of the most-played games globally, and its return to Android's official storefront means a new wave of players, especially younger teens who may have missed the sideloading workaround, can now jump in without friction.
Parents in Ottawa who manage their kids' devices through Google Family Link will also find it much easier to allow controlled access now that the game is back in the Play Store with proper age ratings and parental controls.
What About iPhone Users?
Apple's battle with Epic is a separate matter entirely. In the U.S., a court ordered Apple to allow developers to link to outside payment options, a partial win for Epic, but Fortnite still hasn't returned to the App Store globally. iOS users in Canada, including Ottawa, are still limited to cloud streaming via Safari if they want to play on their iPhones.
Epic has signalled it wants Fortnite back on iOS worldwide, so that fight isn't over yet.
How to Get It
If you're on Android, simply open the Google Play Store, search for Fortnite, and hit install. No sideloading required. The game is free-to-play with optional cosmetic purchases.
After six years away from the platform that reaches the majority of smartphone users globally, Epic's persistence through the courts has paid off, and mobile gamers in Ottawa are among the millions who benefit.
Source: MobileSyrup
