Fortnite’s absence on Xbox Cloud Gaming service a ‘deliberate decision’ by Epic Games

Kreiner spoke about the availability of Fortnite on Nvidia’s cloud gaming service – GeForce Now – which lets gamers access their library of games purchased on multiple storefronts.

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Epic Games’ popular free-to-play game, Fortnite, is available to gamers on multiple platforms except on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service . According to a report by TheVerge , the game’s developer deliberately does not want to offer it on xCloud.

“We viewed Microsoft’s efforts with xCloud to be competitive with our offerings,” Joe Kreiner, Epic’s VP, business development said in a deposition , as part of the ongoing lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple.

The subsequent section of the document is redacted and may contain further elaboration from Kreiner.

Kreiner spoke about the availability of Fortnite on Nvidia’s cloud gaming service – GeForce Now – which lets gamers access their library of games purchased on multiple storefronts such as Steam, Epic Games Store, and other online stores. Nvidia’s service also allows iOS users to play Fortnite via their device’s browser, in a way bypassing Apple’s ban on Fortnite.

Apple had removed Fortnite from App Store for violating the company’s in-app payment guidelines . Apple’s App Store policy allows it to take a cut for most in-app payments and app subscriptions. Similarly, for Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming service, all the transactions go through the company’s payment channel, and it does not permit other storefronts. According to Kreiner, Epic Games has not tried to negotiate around the requirement to have to go through Microsoft’s commerce engine.

In the current set up, when people purchase Fortnite from the Epic Games Store and play it through Nvidia’s GeForce Now, the revenue including payment for purchasing the game, as well as the in-app payments directly go to the Fortnite-maker.

In a separate development, Microsoft has started testing Xbox cloud gaming limited beta for Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets via web browsers.