GeForce Now Will Bring Fortnite Back To iOS, Sort Of

a person logging into Epic Games' Fortnite on their smartphone in Los Angeles on August 14, 2020
Photo: CHRIS DELMAS / Contributor (Getty Images)

Nvidia’s game steaming service, GeForce Now, is in beta on iOS Safari starting today. In the future, users will be able to stream Fortnite to their iPhones, bringing the game—sort of—back to iOS.

Rumors of this workaround first started swirling earlier this month, but Nvidia announced the beta today. “Alongside the amazing team at Epic Games, we’re working to enable a touch-friendly version of Fortnite, which will delay availability of the game,” the company wrote. “We’re looking forward to delivering a cloud-streaming Fortnite mobile experience powered by GeForce NOW. Members can look for the game on iOS Safari soon.”

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This doesn’t mean much for Fortnite players who primarily play on their iPhones—it’s less “mobile Fortnite” and more “Fortnite on your computer but on your phone.” Still, developing a touch version of the game will make it feel a bit more like the real thing, with Nvidia writing, “While the GeForce NOW library is best experienced on mobile with a gamepad, touch is how over 100 million Fortnite gamers have built, battled and danced their way to Victory Royale.”

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Fortnite was removed from iOS back in August, after developer Epic released its own payment system into the game to get around Apple’s 30% cut of the App Store. Epic and Apple are now engaged in a lengthy legal battle that goes to trial next year, with iOS Fortnite players left high and dry in the meantime. Yesterday, Apple halved its cut of the App Store from 30% to 15% for smaller developers, in a move that felt like it could potentially undercut Epic’s self-portrayal as fighting for the little guy.

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Google’s streaming service Stadia also announced an iOS version today, as various streaming services look for ways to work within Apple’s restrictive policies regarding game streaming. All of this is workarounds at best, but hey, I guess it’s something.