Fortnite disappeared from the Apple App Store and Google playstore last week after Epic Games introduced its own payment system.
For those who’ve downloaded Fortnite at least once in the past but perhaps offloaded it or removed it manually, there is still a way to reinstall the game on your iOS device of choice. Here’s how:
- Go to the “My Purchases” section of the App Store, found by clicking on your avatar (typically whatever Memoji or photo you’ve chosen for your Apple ID contact image) in the top righthand corner of any of the main screens.
- From there, tap “purchased,” then “My Purchases” to find your app directory of all iOS apps you’ve ever downloaded.
- Search “Fortnite.”
- The app should show up, and tapping the cloud icon will initiate the downloading process.
You’ll still have to install the nearly 10GB collection of app files, as Fortnite exists on mobile as a kind of shell for the larger chunk of game files that must be retrieved from Epic servers.
But going through this process will put the app back on your home screen and make it available to play once updated, for now at least.
The trick even works if any member of an Apple Family Sharing plan has ever downloaded Fortnite on iOS in the past.
It’s not quite right to call this a loophole, as this behavior has always existed in one form or another for iOS apps.
But given the unprecedented action Apple took to remove Fortnite from the App Store and then threaten Epic with the termination of its inclusion in its developer program, it’s a good idea to get Fortnite back on your iOS device if you’re interested in keeping up with the game or any of the real-world controversy surrounding it.
Epic has said that the game’s next season, Chapter 2 Season 4, will launch on August 27th, but it won’t be available on the iOS version of the game due to the ongoing disagreement. That’s also one day before Apple said it would terminate Epic’s developer account and “cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools.”
Epic has filed for a preliminary injunction against Apple to prevent this from happening, but we’re awaiting judgement on that matter.
