IPhone owners and fans of the game phenomenon Fortnite has a new option to play it on their smartphone: Xbox Cloud Gaming, the cloud video game service (clouds) from Microsoft.
The app Fortnite has not been offered on Apple -branded devices since August 2020, due to a legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games, the game’s publisher.
But players can find the first-person shooter directly in a mobile Internet browser, without going through the Apple application store, a way to avoid the surprising 30% commission the California giant demands on its store.
In 26 countries where it is possible to play via the cloud, you just need a Microsoft account and a smart phone or tablet that uses iOS (Apple) or Android (Google), or even a computer with Windows (Microsoft’s operating system), explains a press release from the IT group.
This is the first game Free (but there are paid options) that Microsoft is adding to its Xbox Cloud Gaming platform, and many more are expected next.
Conflict between Apple and Fortnite
Apple withdrew Fortnite of the App Store when Epic Games sought to circumvent its rules and its payment system, allowing it to take 30% of the revenue generated by the game from sales of bonuses, costumes (skins) and other virtual objects.
The video game publisher then filed a complaint against the Californian group for abuse of a dominant position, accusing it of using a monopoly to purchase goods and services in its online store.
The App Store also bans cloud gaming apps from its store, unless every game they offer will also pay it a 30% commission on its sales.
In November 2021, a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to allow an alternative payment system within the App Store, but also ruled that Epic Games failed to prove that Apple had violated the right to competition.
The electronics giant is also battling this topic with several regulatory bodies in Europe. He believes the App Store is the best possible guarantee in terms of payment security and data privacy.
Microsoft is not the first company to offer the game Fortnite on the iPhone via a web browser. Nvidia’s GeForce Now platform has been launched Fortnite in the cloud from Safari in November 2020.
More than a billion people worldwide use the iPhone, according to Backlinko.
Fortnite is one of the most popular video games in the world with nearly 200 million claimed players.
Source: Radio-Canada
