Fortnite Mobile for Android may not just be exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. According to data gleaned from the Fortnite Android APK in possession of serial Fortnite Android leaker XDA, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 is getting the game as well at launch. Apparently the Fortnite Mobile APK for Android has checks in place for mobile GPU, manufacturer, and model. After passing these, is the game allowed to run. It appears to check a device's brand, codename, and feature set and matches it against either the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 before playing.
"The method checks if the device is a Samsung-branded device with a code-name that starts with 'gts4l'. The devices with those code-names are the many variants of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. Lastly, the method checks for the existence of the S Pen. This is either an extra check to make it harder for people to trick Fortnite into running on their device, or it’s a way for Epic Games to confirm the presence of the S Pen and activate more features. Interestingly, this method checks for the existence of the standard S Pen while the method we uncovered that checks for the existence of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 checks for the new Bluetooth-enabled S Pen," a post from XDA reads.
If true, it means it would be tougher for those without Samsung devices to play the game. With a standard S Pen check, it could also mean that the game would be playable on older Note devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 eventually. Perhaps 30 days after being exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Tab S4. It's rumoured that Fortnite Mobile for Android may be exclusive to Samsung's devices for 120 days in total including the Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, and perhaps even the S7.
And while Fortnite Mobile for Android is skipping Google Play, XDA have unearthed evidence that it might be coming to Samsung's app store known as Samsung Galaxy Apps.
"Now, we’ve also found strings and code that suggest the app will use Samsung’s in-App Purchase SDK, contained within Samsung’s app store called Samsung Galaxy Apps, to handle payments. This suggests that, at least for supported Samsung devices, the app will be available through Samsung Galaxy Apps," the site claims.
Has Fortnite pulled off an epic move by abandoning Google Play and potentially going exclusive to Samsung Galaxy Note 9? We discussed that on Transition, our weekly gaming podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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