So hold onto your hats, my dear Fortnite fans, as Epic just broke some serious news-the battle royale will be officially flying up its glorious comeback into the world of phones and iPads this week, in the U.S. Did someone actually say this? There will be no sideloading; no hacks-well, the hype is real: picker-and-apple-lovers-the-grand-come-back-of-Fortnite.
What is going on, for now? Because Epic Games was launching with a tweet essentially screaming: “WE’RE BACK, BABY.” It said, “We are full speed ahead to bring Fortnite to iPhones and iPads in the U.S. this week.” It did not say a fuzzy-“soon” or “eventually” but instead decided to land a massive punch of a timeline. And honestly, it could not have come any sooner.
For those who have been living under a rock or have decided to shut their eyes to the whole Apple vs. Epic drama, here comes a quick rundown. Back in 2020, Epic tried and cheated the system by violating Apple’s terms, bypassing the App Store fees for players buying V-Bucks directly from them. Apple never could have allowed that transgression to stand; they pulled Fortnite from the App Store, and the two legal entities have been locked in murky waters ever since. To boot, iPhone players have been scrambling through hoops, such as cloud gaming services, to ease those pains. Not good.
It is soon to be over, and if this is the time to do it, then it finally gels with everything. Chapter 5 Season 3 for Fortnite, all about chaos on the vast wasteland and vehicles in full swing, is about to get players gliding for real. No more steps; just download-drop-start grinding of those Battle Pass levels from way back in 2018.
Of course, many mysteries will remain. Will it be exactly the same? Shall Apple throw in some last-minute shenanigans? And then of course-Will all your skins and progress from way back in the day be carried forward into the present? (Probably, maybe; never assume.)
One thing that is quite clear is that Epic is completely serious. For the longest time, they have been teasing this return, and seeing it practically implement now is making the whole Fortnite community go berserk. Twitter is flooded with memes, traction-tweets, and “I TOLD YOU SO” from hardcore fans who never stopped believing.
If you’ve been sitting on an old iPhone just for this moment, congrats-your patience is finally going to pay off. And if you were one of the millions who switched to Android or PC just so keep the game going…maybe it’s about time to dust off that Apple ID.
Either way, this is massive. The meaning of the Fortnite Mobile comeback-Well, not just that of Epic, but for the players who went through App Store limbo for years. Now, all that remains is a more specific release date than “this week.” (Come on, Epic, throw us a bone here.)
Stay tuned to know more because this story sure is not going to end here. There are updates and maybe even surprises locked and loaded to come before the week’s end; when that finally gets released, expect every server to be jam-packed.
Charge your phones, clear out some storage, and it will be wild-good chaos from the moment Fortnite lands on the iPhone.
