Epic Games has rolled out Fortnite on Google Play after 18 months operating outside of the platform.

The move made by the US developer was not taken lightly and seemingly not a welcome decision, with the company releasing a disgruntled statement criticising Google and the way it operates its mobile store.

According to Epic, Google has implemented a number of factors that have made running the battle royale outside of its platform increasingly difficult, such as "repetitive security pop-up" and "restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements".

Epic has continually tried to separate itself from existing platforms, with the firm most notably skipping Steam on PC in favour of its own Epic Games Store.

"Disadvantage"

"Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage," said a representative for Epic.

"Through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterising third-party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store."

Epic signed off the message by stating: "We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future, so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field."

As well as being available to download through Google Play. Fortnite will continue to operate outside of the platform. Furthermore, the Epic Games App will continue to run separately too.

Epic recently partnered with US rapper Travis Scott for an in-game concert within Fortnite.