Fortnite Battle Royale has been available on iOS devices for several months now, but unfortunately, those on Android devices have been forced to wait. Officially, the game will launch on the mobile platform sometime in summer, but with Epic Games yet to provide a specific date, fans have been frustrated with the lack of concrete information.
While Epic Games has yet to disclose the exact Fortnite Android release date, data mining of the game’s most recent update may suggest that the launch will be sooner than fans expect. As discovered by YouTube channel Fortnite Tracker, the latest patch for the game contained several files which seemed to reference the Android version. These files are called “Android_Engine.ini,” “Android_Game.ini,” and “Android_RuntimeOptions.ini.” There is speculation that if Epic is adding these files to the game now, then it must mean that the Android release is right around the corner.
However, the discovery of these files isn’t the only thing that has fans wondering if Fortnite’s Android release is imminent. Next week is the first anniversary of Fortnite’s release and Epic is hosting a special in-game event to celebrate. The first-anniversary event includes new cosmetics (which have been announced and shown off), but some fans aren’t convinced that special birthday cosmetics and questlines are all that Epic has in store for players. What better way to celebrate its massively successful game by bringing it to Android devices, giving more than a billion more people access to Fortnite?
However, others may argue that the Fortnite Android release could still be a little while away, as summer doesn’t officially end until September 21. This means that Epic Games still has two entire months (as of the time of writing) to fulfill its promise to release the Android version before the summer is out. Some will also note that as the Android .ini files were introduced as part of the game’s major Season 5 update, it could just be that Epic is preparing to release the Android version sometime during the fifth season rather than in the next week or so.
Either way, the discussion surrounding the Android version of the game and its release date shows how eager fans are to play it. Some are even so eager that they’ve been duped by Android beta scams, ignoring warning signs just because they wanted to get their hands on the game. So hopefully Epic will put the speculation to rest and announce the release date soon.
Fortnite is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and iOS devices. An Android release is planned for summer 2018.
Source: Fortnite Tracker - YouTube
