In an interesting turn of events, the popular battle royale game Fortnite is no longer available on the two biggest app stores on the planet. Both Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their app stores this week after Epic Games, developers of the game, introduced a payment method that bypasses the App Store and Google Play. But, for owners of Samsung Galaxy devices, not much has changed, as Fortnite is still available for download from the Galaxy Store.
If you own a Galaxy smartphone or tablet and want to play Fortnite and can't find it on the Play Store, follow the instructions below to download it via the Galaxy Store. It's worth mentioning that Fortnite does not officially support every Galaxy smartphone or tablet, at least not through the Galaxy Store, in which case you can follow the instructions for sideloading the game on your device.
How to download Fortnite from the Galaxy Store
- Open the Galaxy Store app on your phone or tablet.
- Tap the search button and search for ‘Epic Games' (without the quotes).
- You should see the Epic Games app show up in the search results. If it doesn't, open this article on your phone or tablet's browser, then click this link to go directly to the Epic Games app page on the Galaxy Store.
Note: You might get a warning that this content is not available on your phone. Pressing the OK button should let you ignore the warning and proceed. If it doesn't, then your device isn't supported yet and you will need to follow the steps for manually sideloading the app on your phone. - Install the app, then run it once installation completes.
- The first time you open the Epic Games app, it might tell you that an update is required. Simply tap the UPDATE button to proceed. Once the update is installed, the app will close. Just open it again by tapping its icon in the app drawer.
- Tap the Fortnite banner, then hit the INSTALL button to start downloading the game. You will need to create or log in to an existing Epic Games account before you can start the download. Also, the game is 8GB+ in size, so you're better off using a Wi-Fi connection.
How to manually sideload Fortnite on your Galaxy device
As mentioned earlier, Fortnite is not officially supported on all Galaxy devices, but on most of them, you can still download the Epic Games app manually via the developer's website and try installing Fortnite. On most devices, the game will install and run just fine, though you may have to reduce the game's graphics to get a playable frame rate.
- On your Galaxy phone or tablet, open this link in the browser.
- Tap the banner that says Get it on the Epic Games App, which will then start downloading the Epic Games app's APK file (you will need to grant permission for the download by pressing the OK button when asked).
- Once the download completes, tap the Open button in the pop-up at the bottom of the screen and install the app on your device by following on-screen instructions. Once installation completes, find and run the Epic Games app from the device's app drawer.
- Then, simply follow step 5 and 6 from the How to download Fortnite from the Galaxy Store section above to install the game.
