The mega battle royale hit that is Fortnite has been unavailable on Apple's App Store for quite a while now, making it inaccessible for iPhone and iPad users unless they use Nvidia's GeForce Now service. However, starting today, May 5, iPhone users have a new way to easily log into and play Fortnite for free, and no, it's not through the App Store.
Thanks to a new partnership between Fortnite developer/publisher Epic Games and Microsoft, people can now access Fortnite via Xbox Cloud Gaming. Although it's still in its beta version, Xbox's Cloud Gaming service is a great way for gamers to stream tons of titles via the cloud. However, it does require a steady and fast internet connection to run smoothly. There will always be some lag when playing games on the cloud, but the better the internet, the better the quality.
How to Play Fortnite on iPhone
The first thing that players will need is their own Microsoft account. The second thing they'll need is an iPhone (or PC/Mac) with a reliable internet connection --and that's pretty much it. Unless players want access to the other games available via Microsoft's cloud service, they won't need to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber.
Fortnite players can also take advantage of touch controls on their iPhone, so there's also no need to connect a controller; although, a controller works just fine.
Next, head on over to the cloud gaming site on Safari by clicking this link. Once players are on the site via their browser, click the square icon with the arrow pointing up on the toolbar and select "Add to Home Screen." Now that the Cloud Gaming "app" is on your phone, go ahead and start it up and then follow the next prompts to log into your Microsoft account.
Once Fortnite starts up, players can link their Epic Games account if they choose to do so. Otherwise, it can be skipped for now, and players can hop into Fortnite to start getting some Victory Royales.
As for what's going on in Fortnite right now, there's a lot of Star Wars content that's been unvaulted thanks to the celebration of May the 4th. Tons of Star Wars skins are in the Item Shop, Stormtroopers are on the island, and Lightsabers can also be obtained.
Fortnite is available on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.