You don't need me to recap the Epic Games vs. Apple saga that frankly we're all tired of by now. The real losers are the millions upon millions of Fortnite players on iOS who have now lost access to the game and the chance to Victory Royale anywhere they please.
But now, Fortnite is coming back. Only not quite like you might have hoped, but it's still coming back nevertheless.
With NVIDIA bringing its GeForce Now cloud gaming platform to the iPhone and iPad via a WebRTC client for Safari, it's also bringing Fortnite along for the ride. At least, eventually. For while Fortnite is currently available on GeForce Now, Epic and NVIDIA are working together to make the experience a little better for iOS users.
"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. 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.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 in the near future."
This is a pretty big deal, because currently GeForce Now requires a controller, with keyboard and mouse exclusive games excluded from use on mobile devices. But much like Microsoft has begun to do with cloud-delivered Game Pass titles like Minecraft Dungeons, NVIDIA and Epic are going to make Fortnite on iPhone and iPad through GeForce Now play exactly like the native version for iOS.
Because Fortnite is entirely cross-platform, you don't have to worry about losing your valuable stuff, either. You'll simply be logging in to the PC version of Fortnite with your Epic Games account via one of NVIDIA's servers. The only additional hoop you'll need to jump through is signing up for a GeForce Now account, which has both free and paid tiers.
If you just want to try it out, the free tier is fine, though its biggest drawback is that you can only game for an hour at a time. A premium membership starts at $4.99 a month for unlimited access, and honestly, it's worth every penny. I've been using GeForce Now for a while and whether on mobile, desktop or even more recently, a Chromebook through the browser, the experience has been fantastic.
GeForce Now for iOS goes live from today, November 19, so head on over and check it out while you wait for the Battle Bus to return.
NVIDIA's cloud game streaming service is one of the best available today, delivering lag-free gaming at 1080p/60fps. The fact that you can access NVIDIA's servers for free makes it an easy sell, and the $4.99 plan makes it an immediately enticing option for seasoned gamers.
