This Will Be The Worst thing About Your Kids Playing Fortnite on Android

Yes we’re writing another story about Fortnite. I already discussed the risks of Epic Games launching their game through their site instead of the Google Play store but I wanted to highlight another major problem with this profit grabbing workaround. The in-game purchases.

It is very clear that Epic Games made the move to bypass the Google Play Store in an effort to not have to share income with Google. The initial download of the game is free, though, so where is there money to be made? That is through the in-game purchases. The game allows you to buy costumes, weapon skins, and all kinds of other gear through their in-app store. This, if it was through the Google Play Store would be subject to your Parental Control settings. Since the Play Store is not involved in purchases in any way, your controls won’t do anything to keep your child from making a purchase at will. There are a few things you can do, however, to keep them from racking up Fortnite charges on your credit card.

The first and easiest option is to not set up a payment option for them at all. Obviously, if there is no credit card or PayPal account saved in their Epic Games account, they won’t be able to spend any of your money. Beware, however, that they could find a way to make purchases if they are playing on a parent’s phone or have credit card information saved elsewhere on their own. 

To help with this problem you’ll want to be sure the Epic Games account that they have set up (you must have one to play) doesn’t have any payment info attached to it. This article by Android Central has a pretty good how-to on this.  They also recommend disabling PayPal as a payment option in your Epic Games account since you can pay without a password or that trusty CSV your credit card requires.

What Parents Should Know

Remember that nothing is free on your or your kids’ smartphones. If the game is free it’s because you can buy something in the game. If there are no in-app purchases (and probably even if there are) then you are paying with your personal data. Many parents are ok with their kids doing whatever they want on their devices (against expert advice) but when it begins to affect the pocketbook, they change their tune. 

I stand by my opinion that you shouldn’t let your kids download Fortnite for Android and this just adds to the reasons why. If there is no way for parents to keep tabs on their kids’ activity in game, especially spending activity, then parents should hold off on allowing their kids to install the game until Epic provides some sort of solution.