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When will Fortnite return to Apple’s iOS App Store? Answered

A battle between tech companies at mobile players' expense.

It has been almost two long years since Fortnite has been removed from iOS App Store. As large as a following as the game holds, it would have been imagined Apple would have taken Fortnite back by now, but as the saying goes, money talks.

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When you can expect Fortnite to be back on the App Store

The game was first delisted from the store when Apple and developer Epic Games began a feud over Epic’s right to have its own payment system within Fortnite. Since, the battle has been in the hands of the law of court for quite sometime, making the hopes of Fortnite’s return to the App Store very low.

Due to the on-going court battle between Apple and Epic Games, it is highly likely Fortnite remains off of the iOS App Store for years to come. Reason being, a blog post on Epic Games’ website, published in September 2021, revealed Apple intends to have the game “blacklisted” from the store at least until their court appeals settle. According to Epic, this could last as long as five more years, meaning several players Apple-linked Fortnite accounts will unfortunately remain inaccessible.

Alternative ways to play Fortnite on iPhone and iPad

Despite the loss of their Apple accounts, those on iOS still have two routes to take for playing Fortnite on iPhones and iPads. For one, a closed beta of the battle royale launched on Nvidia’s GeForce Now, a free and premium service which allows iOS users to play games directly from the Safari browser. Anyone interested still has a chance to join by signing up for its waitlist on GeForce Now’s webpage.

However, players can also enjoy the game on iOS by visiting Xbox’s website from a mobile browser and using its Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta. You’ll need to either create or sign into an existing Xbox account to do this, but the method is entirely free and won’t require an Xbox Live subscription. Like GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming offers players touch controls as well as bluetooth controller support.


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Author
Image of Ryan Willcox
Ryan Willcox
Ryan Willcox is a Staff Writer at Gamepur. He is mostly known to cover free-to-play titles, spanning from Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, to Apex Legends. Outside of games, Ryan's other personal interests are reading scientific nonfiction and running.