this is a hugely ignorant decision and for a game whose demographic is mostly children, this decision is honestly quite stupid for the malware and scam potential mentioned by @noah. if they don't...
this is a hugely ignorant decision and for a game whose demographic is mostly children, this decision is honestly quite stupid for the malware and scam potential mentioned by @noah. if they don't want to pay into platforms, make the game playable on the web. "you can't make a game like fortnite on the web!" you might say. yes you can. three.js, Websockets, Gamepads, WASM, Unity on WASM
I've also been getting adverts like that on Instagram, fake fortnite APKs are going to be an even bigger problem when the game releases and people can't find it on the play store. Kids will just...
I've also been getting adverts like that on Instagram, fake fortnite APKs are going to be an even bigger problem when the game releases and people can't find it on the play store.
Kids will just end up downloading from a link in a YouTube video.
I'm not convinced that the choice to install via sideload will increase the amount of secondary sideload scams, but I definitely think Epic needs to make sure they have funds set aside to help...
I'm not convinced that the choice to install via sideload will increase the amount of secondary sideload scams, but I definitely think Epic needs to make sure they have funds set aside to help educate and combat any scams/3rd party apps that appear which are made to scam users.
Chances are this will quickly become the largest sideloaded app ever installed, and hopefully the Android team will use this as a catalyst to add security enhancements for sideloading, because it may become more mainstream if other companies choose to go this route to try to earn an extra dollar. Hopefully this doesn't cause the opposite effect, disabling sideloading, although I could see an argument for only allowing sideloading on developer accounts (or at least having other requirements/notifications to check before allowing it).
Hopefully Epic will make appropriate use of this feature, and it's not entirely motivated by greed.
Epic puts a lot of work into their product and reinvests a decent amount of profit. Fortnite doesn't sit stagnant. Between the community managers that are always on reddit, the constant feature...
Epic puts a lot of work into their product and reinvests a decent amount of profit. Fortnite doesn't sit stagnant. Between the community managers that are always on reddit, the constant feature updates and balance changes, and the $100 million dedicated to e-sports, they're not just buying yachts with the $$. If the extra 30% will be re-invested, it makes sense. On iOS, Fortnite earned $15 million within 3 weeks of launch, and the rumors that Fortnite will support KB+M on Android (as well as having the Android launch sponsored by Ninja, who is currently one of the largest streamers Twitch has ever seen), Epic could easily be losing more $ to Google than most other apps gross.
There are definitely security/malware issues with this, especially when a large part of the game's audience (double for mobile players) is children. I'm not sure how this issue could be dealt...
There are definitely security/malware issues with this, especially when a large part of the game's audience (double for mobile players) is children. I'm not sure how this issue could be dealt with, unless Google themselves implemented some kind of verification during installation of sideloaded apps (which will obviously never happen, since they want all apps on Google Play).
On the other hand, I commend Epic for wanting to stay away from Google's app ecosystem monopoly, which has a lot of problems. From the massive amount of malware/adware going undealt with, to the rampant fake reviews, to bugs (or algorithm changes) causing large profit loss for developers, I think Google has a lot of problems on their hand, but as long as they have a monopoly (it's their platform) and keep making money, they aren't really obligated to do anything.
Aside from that, I expect the game to be good. I think Epic is a great developer, and the game will probably be well optimized (looking at PC Fortnite's performance, and considering they made Unreal Engine). It doesn't seem like they rushed it (PUBG Mobile released a few months ago and it doesn't look like they raced to release close to it or anything).
I agree wholeheartedly. Particularly as someone who runs AOSP-based LineageOS without any google services installed, I use sideloading for a very large number of applications on my device [games...
I agree wholeheartedly. Particularly as someone who runs AOSP-based LineageOS without any google services installed, I use sideloading for a very large number of applications on my device [games in particular]. Presumably [hopefully!] this means that there is no reliance on the google services framework for functionality of the game.
Security is going to be a huge problem, and frankly I hope that the size and popularity of Fortnite will shed some light on the matter, and some real solutions are implemented. Ultimately though, this environment has existed for the entirety of the history of internet-connected desktop computers. Anyone who uses a desktop computer can run code from any source they find online. I don't think that a walled-garden approach is an acceptable tradeoff for security, and education of the user is of prime importance. How about we teach people how to use a computer, rather than how to use a product?
I'm very interested to see how the launch goes, and here's hoping it encourages more groups to follow Epic's example.
this is a hugely ignorant decision and for a game whose demographic is mostly children, this decision is honestly quite stupid for the malware and scam potential mentioned by @noah. if they don't want to pay into platforms, make the game playable on the web. "you can't make a game like fortnite on the web!" you might say. yes you can. three.js, Websockets, Gamepads, WASM, Unity on WASM
I've already seen several high-quality, official looking adverts on youtube trying to convince kids to download scam apks.
:(
it was inevitable
I've also been getting adverts like that on Instagram, fake fortnite APKs are going to be an even bigger problem when the game releases and people can't find it on the play store.
Kids will just end up downloading from a link in a YouTube video.
I'm not convinced that the choice to install via sideload will increase the amount of secondary sideload scams, but I definitely think Epic needs to make sure they have funds set aside to help educate and combat any scams/3rd party apps that appear which are made to scam users.
Chances are this will quickly become the largest sideloaded app ever installed, and hopefully the Android team will use this as a catalyst to add security enhancements for sideloading, because it may become more mainstream if other companies choose to go this route to try to earn an extra dollar. Hopefully this doesn't cause the opposite effect, disabling sideloading, although I could see an argument for only allowing sideloading on developer accounts (or at least having other requirements/notifications to check before allowing it).
Hopefully Epic will make appropriate use of this feature, and it's not entirely motivated by greed.
Epic puts a lot of work into their product and reinvests a decent amount of profit. Fortnite doesn't sit stagnant. Between the community managers that are always on reddit, the constant feature updates and balance changes, and the $100 million dedicated to e-sports, they're not just buying yachts with the $$. If the extra 30% will be re-invested, it makes sense. On iOS, Fortnite earned $15 million within 3 weeks of launch, and the rumors that Fortnite will support KB+M on Android (as well as having the Android launch sponsored by Ninja, who is currently one of the largest streamers Twitch has ever seen), Epic could easily be losing more $ to Google than most other apps gross.
There are definitely security/malware issues with this, especially when a large part of the game's audience (double for mobile players) is children. I'm not sure how this issue could be dealt with, unless Google themselves implemented some kind of verification during installation of sideloaded apps (which will obviously never happen, since they want all apps on Google Play).
On the other hand, I commend Epic for wanting to stay away from Google's app ecosystem monopoly, which has a lot of problems. From the massive amount of malware/adware going undealt with, to the rampant fake reviews, to bugs (or algorithm changes) causing large profit loss for developers, I think Google has a lot of problems on their hand, but as long as they have a monopoly (it's their platform) and keep making money, they aren't really obligated to do anything.
Aside from that, I expect the game to be good. I think Epic is a great developer, and the game will probably be well optimized (looking at PC Fortnite's performance, and considering they made Unreal Engine). It doesn't seem like they rushed it (PUBG Mobile released a few months ago and it doesn't look like they raced to release close to it or anything).
I agree wholeheartedly. Particularly as someone who runs AOSP-based LineageOS without any google services installed, I use sideloading for a very large number of applications on my device [games in particular]. Presumably [hopefully!] this means that there is no reliance on the google services framework for functionality of the game.
Security is going to be a huge problem, and frankly I hope that the size and popularity of Fortnite will shed some light on the matter, and some real solutions are implemented. Ultimately though, this environment has existed for the entirety of the history of internet-connected desktop computers. Anyone who uses a desktop computer can run code from any source they find online. I don't think that a walled-garden approach is an acceptable tradeoff for security, and education of the user is of prime importance. How about we teach people how to use a computer, rather than how to use a product?
I'm very interested to see how the launch goes, and here's hoping it encourages more groups to follow Epic's example.