Two years ago, Fortnite was kicked out of the iPhone app store in the wake of a dispute between Apple and Epic. Now the game is back, but only thanks to Microsoft.
The relationship between Fortnite, or rather Epic, and Apple is, well, not exactly one of mutual goodwill. After a legal dispute over the iPhone app shop’s business model, Apple took the popular battle royale out of the app store. Now, however, the shooter is available again on Apple devices – but only thanks to a trick by Microsoft.
How to play Fortnite on iPhone
While Fortnite is still not available in the iPhone app store, you can now play it on Apple devices thanks to Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming. Only two things are required: a Microsoft account and a device with an internet connection. In addition to iPhones, you can also use iPads, Android smartphones and tablets or a Windows PC.
All you have to do is visit the (Xbox website), log in with your Microsoft account and then click on Play with Cloud Gaming. It is possible to control the game with touch or a supported controller. Fortnite, by the way, recently got a new mode, and it’s all without the signature building:
A provocation for Apple?
The fact that the highly competitive Fortnite, of all things, is the first Free2Play title to land on Microsoft’s cloud gaming service may seem like a coincidence at first glance. In fact, both Microsoft and Epic are unhappy with the restrictive rules of Apple’s Appstore. They also block the release of Game Pass as an application for mobile devices and require the service to be split into individual games.
No wonder, then, that Microsoft is launching an attempt to circumvent the Appstore with cloud gaming and at the same time to take a side blow at Apple. Since the company sees platform-independent cloud gaming as an important business foundation for its future, it makes sense to cooperate with Epic even without the dispute with Apple. Because Epic is also interested in marketing its games independently of platform boundaries.
