Though it’s been a while since the news broke that Fortnite developer Epic Games and Apple were entering a legal dispute, the court battle between the two companies is still ongoing. Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple back in August in response to Apple removing Fortnite from the iOS app store for violating the store’s rules.
Unfortunately, iOS and Mac players are still being prevented from playing via the app. As such, Epic Games is giving Fortnite players on iOS and Mac free V-Bucks that they can spend on any platform they choose on November 9.
For those who may have missed the news, back in August, Epic Games attempted to bypass Apple’s 30 percent fee on app store microtransactions. Apple swiftly retaliated, resulting in the legal battle that is still ongoing today. Though Fortnite will be playable on iOS again sometime in the near future thanks to Nvidia’s subscription cloud service GeForce Now, that is only a temporary solution. In the meantime, it seems Epic is trying to appease Fortnite players on iOS and Mac by giving them free V-Bucks to spend on any platform of their choice.
The news comes from the official Fortnite Status Twitter account, which explained that V-Bucks would be awarded to players by November 9. The tweet clarifies how the V-Bucks granted to iOS and Mac users differ. IOS users will receive V-Bucks equal to the current balance of unspent V-Bucks purchased the the iOS App store, while Mac users will receive the current unspent balance of V-Bucks purchased through Epic. This essentially means that players who have unspent Fortnite V-Bucks on iOS or Mac will have free V-Bucks equal to that amount added to their account.
It’s a nice gesture for players who mainly played Fortnite through Apple products, which was a decent portion of the game’s player base. Since Apple removed Fortnite from the app store and restricted Epic’s access to developer tools, iOS and Mac players have missed out on all of Fortnite’s recent Marvel crossover content. To play the game at all, those same users would have had to switch their primary platform altogether. Though some fans have been getting weary of the massive Marvel crossover event, plenty of players have enjoyed what Season 4 has offered to players.
Apple’s retaliation to Epic Games’ lawsuit was harsh to say the least, and Fortnite players on Apple products suffered right alongside Epic Games. With any luck, the outcome of Epic and Apple’s legal battle will end with some return to normalcy for players on iOS and Mac. Until then, players on those platforms can look forward to some bonus V-Bucks in their accounts in the coming days.
Fortnite is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and mobile devices, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.