Don’t Buy an iPhone with Fortnite on eBay

You can spend over $10,000 on an iPhone with Fortnite installed on it when you look on eBay. This is a pretentious amount to spend on a phone with a free game installed, and ultimately it’s a huge waste of money. Even paying a small premium locally for an iPhone with Fortnite on it is a waste in 2020. Here’s what you need to know and why you shouldn’t spend big money on any kind of iPhone with Fortnite pre-installed.

Last week Apple pulled Fortnite from the App Store because the app allowed gamers to purchase in-app currency without letting Apple take a cut. You can still install Fortnite on the iPhone if you’ve ever used Fortnite with your Apple ID, but that is only a short term fix — just like buying an iPhone with Fortnite already installed.

The highest listings for an iPhone with Fortnite installed are $12,000, and there are plenty of other iPhones with Fortnite on them for more reasonable amounts, as well as some listing the items as “rare.”

If you buy one of these phones, you will get an iPhone and you will get Fortnite, but ultimately you may only be able to play that version to a limited degree. Epic says, “Once Chapter 2 – Season 4 begins, players accessing Fortnite will still be able to play the 13.40 version of Fortnite, but will not be able to access any new content or the new Battle Pass. Cosmetic purchases will still work across all platforms.”

This means that you can still play Fortnite, but it is important to factor in Apple pulling Epic Games developer access, which means no more updates until this is resolved.

Instead of buying an iPhone with Fortnite pre-installed, you should save your money and wait for this fight to end. Either you will need to switch to another system to play Fortnite or Epic will win and be able to get back on the app store with more favorable terms. It is very likely that Fortnite is coming back to the iPhone in some way this year.