Epic Games Rejects $147 Million Google Deal for Fortnite on Play Store

Epic Games rejected a $147 million deal proposed by Google to put Fortnite on Google Play in 2018, citing the high cost of the 30% store tax. Epic argued in court that the process of sideloading apps onto Android devices deters users, making them more likely to rely on the Google Play store. Internal Google documents revealed that the company was aware of the install friction and potential revenue loss caused by Fortnite's absence from the Play store. Google's offer would have seen them invest $147 million into Epic over three years. Epic eventually brought Fortnite to Google Play 18 months later but was later removed for enabling direct payments, leading to the current antitrust lawsuit against Google.