Fortnite is back and free to play on iOS devices

Fortnite fans who miss the game on their Apple devices should read along now.

Because after an absence, Fortnite is back on Apple devices, thanks to Microsoft. This may sound confusing and untrue to many Apple users now, but that’s exactly how it is.

The company’s Xbox cloud gaming service was expanded on Thursday to include the popular battle royale game. And because the Xbox Cloud service is accessible through Chrome, an Apple-supported browser, Fortnite is once again playable on iPhones and iPads after being banned from the official Apple app store following a legal battle between Apple and Epic. In the same way, by the way, it is also playable on Android, just to say that.

 

Fortnite iOS Microsoft Game Pass kostenlos

 

You don’t have to spend a dime, by the way. Until now, Xbox Cloud Gaming was only available for subscribers of the paid Game Pass. But Fortnite fundamentally changes the way the service works, since Microsoft removes the subscription requirement for free games – like Fortnite.

This is how you play Fortnite on tablet and smartphone from now on:

Using the Chrome browser on your iOS, iPadOS, or Android device, go to xbox.com/play. Sign in with your Microsoft account – or create a new one. Then select Fortnite, currently the only free-to-play game. And that’s it.

The plan is to add more free games to the service over time. Microsoft announced this yesterday. However, there is no exact schedule for this. Fortnite makes perfect sense as the first game in this context, since it is one of the most important and popular games in the world. In addition, this first release brings both Microsoft and Fortnite a lot of attention and users.

The legal battle between Apple and Epic at the time was about the way Epic made money from the game in the App Store. Apple claims a share of up to 30 percent of all money spent on both non-Apple apps and their in-app purchases. In addition, the Cupertino-based company prohibits developers from offering their customers an alternative method of purchase, such as through a browser, to avoid Apple’s platform fees.

Epic was shown the door after the Fortnite maker updated the game’s iOS app to offer a discount on the purchase of V-Bucks (the game’s currency). This incident is the origin of the lawsuit.

After Microsoft was massively thwarted by the company itself when releasing the Game Pass app, which included 200 games that would have been playable via Apple devices, they decided to make it all usable via the browser.

Let’s see if and how Apple reacts to this.