Samsung has always focused on productivity for its Galaxy Note series of phablets. But the company is adopting a new marketing strategy with the upcoming Galaxy Note 9. The Note 9 will be as much about gaming as it is about productivity. The Korean company has reached a deal with Epic Games to ride on the success of the blockbuster Fortnite game. So yeah, you’ll see the Galaxy Note 9 gaming phone on August 9th.
With Fortnite, Samsung lays out the Galaxy Note 9 gaming strategy
Reliable sources told XDA Developers that Fortnite would be exclusive to the Note 9 for 30 days. It means the popular game will become available on other Android phones a month after the Galaxy Note 9 launch. Fortnite has been available on Mac, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and iOS for quite some time. Epic Games had announced that Fortnite would come to Android devices later this summer.
Keeping Fortnite exclusive to Galaxy Note 9 is part of Samsung’s strategy to market it as a gaming phone. The Note 9 will be unveiled on August 9th at an Unpacked event in New York City. Sources told XDA Developers that pre-orders would go live on August 14th and it would go on sale on August 24th. So, people who don’t want to buy the Note 9 will have to wait until September 23rd to play Fortnite on their Android phones.
Samsung will highlight the Note 9’s gaming capabilities at the Unpacked event. The device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 or Samsung’s own Exynos 9810 chip depending on the market. It will have 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage for the base model. The most expensive version is expected to pack 8GB RAM and 512GB of storage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16i8TH6lxmo
To make the Note 9 more gaming-friendly, it will have a “vapor chamber heat pipe” for cooling. It will keep the device from overheating during the extended gameplay. The device is also said to pack a giant 4,000mAh battery to allow you to play for hours. Samsung has just released a teaser video highlighting the Note 9’s extended battery life. The video tagline reads, “Battery can’t keep up? A lot can change in a day.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-37lkw_uaQ
Numerous leaks have revealed earlier that the S Pen stylus would get a major upgrade this year. Samsung is adding Bluetooth connectivity and a built-in battery to enhance its capabilities. XDA Developers noted that the S Pen would also be integrated into Fortnite, though it is unclear how the stylus would work with the game. We expect it to be used for aiming or shooting.
If you pre-order the Galaxy Note 9, you will be rewarded with cool Fortnite bonus freebies worth $100 to $150. The freebies include player skins, V-Bucks, and more. For the uninitiated, V-Bucks are Fortnite’s in-game currency that you can use to buy cosmetics, gliders, dances, and even battle pass. Galaxy Note 9 buyers should be able to play Fortnite right out of the box.
Will Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 gaming strategy succeed?
Only time will tell how successful Samsung’s new marketing strategy will be. But Fortnite has been a sensational success on every platform it has been launched so far. According to SuperData Research, the game generated more than $1 billion in revenues through in-game purchases in the first five months of this year. It is expected to rake in more than $2 billion of in-app purchases in 2018. Notably, the game is free to download and play.
Android is the only major platform Fortnite hasn’t debuted on yet. The deal with Samsung might have played a role in its delay. Epic Games have to spend considerable time optimizing the game for Samsung devices. The developer will also benefit from the fact that Samsung will be promoting the game to millions of its fans around the world.
Samsung and Epic Games are reportedly in talks with popular Twitch streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins to get him to announce Fortnite for Galaxy Note 9 at the August 9th event. Ninja is incredibly popular in the gaming community with more than 15 million YouTube subscribers and 10 million Twitch followers.
Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode flies 100 players in a parachute to a remote island. Upon reaching the island, players have to hunt for gear, weapons, and other stuff to fight one another. The last person standing wins the game. Epic Games has made things more interesting by adding a deadly storm around the island that causes the playable area to shrink until all players are forced to fight.
It looks like the Galaxy Note 9 will focus on productivity as well as gaming. It will have everything from a powerful processor to higher RAM and storage to the S Pen stylus to make it useful for gamers as well as professionals. A recent report suggests that the device will no longer require the DeX Pad to give you a desktop experience. Will you be interested in buying the Galaxy Note 9 gaming phone?
