It's a bad time to start playing Fortnite – at least if you want to play on an iPhone. Android users, meanwhile, can get around the current fight between the game's developers and tech giants. — Andrea Warnecke/dpa
Google and Apple have booted the hit game Fortnite off their app stores after developer Epic integrated a cheaper payment option for game content.
So how are you supposed to get this must-have shooter survival game on your phone now?
Google and Apple's rules state that they get as much as 30% of the revenue from app sales and in-app purchases. App developers have long complained that the tech giants are taking too big a cut for their platform service.
Now Epic Games, the developer of one of world's most popular games, is testing its strength and trying to take back lost earnings from Google and Apple with direct payments.
The good news for players is that if you already had Fortnite installed on your iPhone or Android device, then you don't need to worry and can continue playing as ever.
For any newcomers who want to join the massive Fortnite community, however, right not isn't the easiest time.
And yet there is one solution for Android users at least. Unlike Apple, Google allows you to "sideload" apps onto your Android device and install apps from sources other than the official App Store.
Epic even offers secure downloads directly from its own servers. To do this, go to fortnite.com/android on your smartphone's browser or scan a QR code on the Epic homepage.
You then have to grant the respective browser the right to install the software and, if necessary, also send a critical request from Google's virus scanner Play Protect.
Fortnite newcomers with an iPhone, on the other hand, will have to wait until this conflict is solved. Alternatively, there are plenty of livestreams on the Twitch video platform that will at least give you a sense of what you're missing.
If you're that desperate, you can also switch to a different gaming platform like PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch. – dpa
