Fortnite cloud gaming will be making its official debut in the strangest of places: it will be arriving on iOS devices despite the fact that Epic Games and Apple are currently embroiled in a legal battle that has seen the Fortnite iOS version delisted from the App Store.
This will be the first time that Fortnite cloud gaming has been possible, with it yet to make its debut on Google Stadia, GeForce Now, or any other similar service. That will be changing in the near future — and this time, Apple may not be able to stop Epic Games from distributing Fortnite on iOS devices.
GeForce Now to enable Fortnite Cloud Gaming through Safari browser
The BBC has learned that Fortnite cloud gaming will be enabled through its addition to GeForce Now in a somewhat unexpected fashion. A version of Nvidia’s cloud gaming service GeForce Now is in the works that can run through the Safari browser, bypassing any of Apple’s restrictions on which apps can and cannot run on iOS devices.
Earlier this year, Fortnite launched the “Epic Payment System” on iOS and Android, circumventing the commission paid to Apple and Google, respectively, by allowing direct payments to Epic Games. This resulted in Fortnite being removed from the Apple App Store a few hours later and from Google Play a few hours after that. The removal resulted in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4 only being available via the Epic Games app on Android devices and wholly unavailable on iOS devices.
A spokesman from Nvidia declined to comment to the BBC on Fortnite cloud gaming or the reported version of GeForce Now that can run via the Safari browser. Currently, the GeForce Now app is only available for Windows, Mac, Android, and Chromebook devices — the cloud gaming app is notably absent from iOS devices. The BBC expects to see an official announcement of the GeForce Now Safari version before the winter.
