Fortnite, the popular battle royale title by Epic Games, returned to the Google Play Store in the US on Thursday.
The restoration of Fortnite to the Play Store came after Google complied with a US District Court injunction, Epic Games said.
“We’re continuing to work with Google to seek court approval of our settlement. Stay tuned for news of Fortnite's return to Google Play to the rest of the world,” Epic Games further added, signalling that Fortnite could return to Google's app store for all users soon.
The popular battle royale video game, which still boasts millions of monthly active users, was removed from Google Play in 2020 after Epic Games introduced a direct payment system that bypassed the search giant's own billing system, triggering a legal dispute over fees and app distribution rules.
Earlier this year, Epic Games also settled a five-year-long legal battle with Apple, paving the way of Fortnite's return to iPhones and iPads.
Going strong eight years after release
Released in 2017 by Epic Games as a free-to-play battle royale game with microtransactions, Fortnite exploded shortly after release, accumulating 350 million registered users by May 2020.
Eight years after release, the game is still going strong, boasting over 1 million monthly active users currently, despite its unavailability on Google Play.
With its season system, Fortnite is currently on Chapter 7: Season 1, ‘Pacific Break’, a Hollywood-themed season featuring points of interest (POIs) on the map inspired by Area 51, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Disneyland.
Being Hollywood-themed, the ongoing season of Fortnite also features skins of characters from some fan favourite movies, including Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future series and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
As for characters, the protagonists of both movies feature—Beatrix Kiddo or ‘The Bride’ from Kill Bill, and Marty McFly from the Back to The Future series.
For both characters, there are two versions available.
For the Uma Thurman-played Kill Bill character, The Bride skin shows her in the iconic yellow suit. The other variant, Beatrix Kiddo, features her in a jeans and jacket.
The Back to the Future set includes the Marty McFly skin, and its variant the Future Marty McFly skin.
Known for its crossovers with celebrities and pop culture icons, Fortnite also recently introduced Kim Kardashian in the game, with a limited-time outfit set and an emote referencing her culture-shifting Paper magazine “Break the Internet” cover.
