Fortnite now available to everyone on iOS via GeForce Now cloud streaming

After four months in closed beta, a touchscreen-optimized version of Fortnite is now available to stream via Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service on iOS and Android. It means iPhone users have another workaround to play one of the most popular games in the world after it was unceremoniously booted from the App Store in August 2020 for bypassing Apple’s in-app payment system. On iOS, GeForce Now is available via the browser, while Android owners can access it via an app.

The official launch follows a months-long beta period during which Nvidia says 500,000 people streamed over 4 million sessions of Fortnite via the service. As a result of the testing, Nvidia claims it’s been able to optimize its “on-screen touch controls and game menus.” Hopefully, the changes address a control scheme that my colleague Jay Peters called “finicky” back in January.

iOS users have the most to gain from this touch-optimized version of Fortnite coming to GeForce Now since Android users are still able to install the game natively via sideloading. The PC version of Fortnite has previously been available to stream on Nvidia’s cloud gaming service, which is also available on Windows, macOS, Android TV, select LG TVs, and via browsers including Chrome and Edge. That said, Fortnite is available on most of this hardware already, so it might be easier to play the free-to-play game natively in many cases.

This touch-optimized version of Fortnite on GeForce Now has been a long time coming with Epic and Nvidia announcing their intention to stream the game to iOS in November 2020. Since then, the game has actually made it to release on Microsoft’s competing Xbox Cloud Gaming service, where it launched earlier this month. Like GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming is only available on iOS via web browsers because of Apple’s restrictions around game streaming services.

As part of today’s announcement, Nvidia says it’s offering any beta testers three free days of Priority membership to GeForce Now, its middle tier that normally costs $8.99 a month. It can be redeemed via redeem.nvidia.com, but you’ll need to be subscribed to the service’s most expensive $19.99 / month RTX 3080 tier to stream Fortnite at 120fps on compatible Android devices.

Nvidia boasts that its cloud gaming service now includes a library of 1,300 games that are available via a combination of Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Update May 19th, 9:58AM ET: Updated to note that Fortnite’s PC version was previously available to stream via GeForce Now.