Microsoft has announced Fortnite is now playable for free through Xbox Cloud Gaming as a part of a new partnership with Epic Games. The popular battle royale game is playable through the cloud service via Xbox’s website on browser-enabled devices including iOS, iPadOS, Android phones and tablets, and Windows PC.
Fortnite was already available through the cloud service but was only to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers which is no longer the case as the game is completely playable without the need of a subscription service, but an Xbox account is required. Fortnite players looking to play the game on mobile again can boot up the game by playing it either through touch screen controls or with an Xbox Controller.
Fortnite was previously available to download in Apple and Google’s app store but was removed in 2020; following Epic Games’ decision to add an alternative option that allowed players to purchase Fortnite in-game currency, V-bucks directly from Epic Games. This move was done to bypass the app store holder’s revenue split with in-app purchases and violated Apple’s App Store agreement.
This led to Epic Games filing a lawsuit in 2020 against Apple, the result of the case led to the judge ruling Apple can’t prohibit developers from providing different payment methods. During the case, Epic Games’ vice president of business development Joe Kreiner revealed the reason Fortnite wasn’t on Xcloud which was because the company viewed the cloud service on PC as a competitor, but it looks like that stance has changed.
