Gamers trying to play Fortnite on Mac have run into a few hiccups along the way, including, but not limited to, texture bugs, unreasonably bad frame rates and being trapped between the main menu. Though it would seem like that wouldn’t be a problem then, it seems that there is a game-breaking issue of some sort that will happen for players on the Fortnite Save the World Mac version with the current 13.40 patch. Since they can’t update, the new 14.20 patch will reportedly cause some major bugs for players on that older version. Epic Again Tells iOS And Mac Gamers Why They Can’t Play Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 4 By Oliver Haslam August 28th, 2020 If you’re an iPhone, Mac, or iPad gamer you’re already well aware of the fact that you’re missing out on Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 4.
by Cody Perez in Fortnite | Sep, 18th 2020
The latest battle in the ongoing war between Epic Games and Apple over Fortnite and everything Apple is doing has happened. This particular battle favors Apple, which means that the Fortnite Save the World Mac version is the latest casualty in a fight that began over the App Store.
Fortnite Save the World Mac Version Is Getting Shut Down
Though this wasn’t the original part of the fight, the Fortnite Save the World Mac version has become the latest portion of the battle royale game’s various platforms to suffer. Players who have been playing that version of the game will no longer play it starting next week.
Epic Games announced this in a blog post tweeted out this week, noting that the end date for the Fortnite Save the World Mac version will be on Wednesday, Sept. 23. On that day, players on the MacOS version of the popular battle royale game will not be able to play it.
It is currently uncertain whether this will affect the battle royale portion of the game, but we can likely get some details from what we know about this situation and why it is happening. Essentially, this decision comes down to the ongoing legal war between Apple and Epic Games.
It all began earlier this summer with Epic Games wanting to lower V-Bucks’ prices for players on mobile platforms by allowing them to purchase directly from the company instead of Apple and Google, which was allegedly not approved at all by either company.
So, when Apple retaliated against this breach of terms that Epic had done by not getting approval for this feature, it removed Fortnite from the App Store, and it didn’t take long for Google to do the same. Fortunately for Android players, there are many ways to keep playing the game on those devices.
However, the App Store’s removal meant nearly impossible to play Fortnite on an iOS device like iPhone or iPad without our help. The war has been raging legally for a bit now. Another measure Apple has taken against Epic Games in the meantime has been to prevent the publisher from signing games and patches for distribution on Mac.
Since Apple is in control of the Mac platform and the iOS one, it can block Epic Games on there, too, from making games and patches available to players on that platform even if it wasn’t originally part of the issue. This means that games are in limbo on that platform.
At a glance, it would seem like players could keep playing the Fortnite Save the World Mac version without any problems as they wouldn’t have access to the latest patches and seasons that the other Fortnite players on the platforms of PC and consoles can have.
Save the World Is Ending Because of the New Patch
However, the problem is with the new patch next week, known as the 14.20 release. This will be the latest patch version to drop as part of Fortnite battle royale Season 4, and it will not be able to be published on the Mac platform.
Though it would seem like that wouldn’t be a problem then, it seems that there is a game-breaking issue of some sort that will happen for players on the Fortnite Save the World Mac version with the current 13.40 patch. Since they can’t update, the new 14.20 patch will reportedly cause some major bugs for players on that older version.
It will reportedly cause a very poor experience for players on that platform, so it seems that Epic Games has gone ahead and decided to make the game unplayable in that state on that platform. The bugs aren’t mentioned directly in the announcement post, but they must be pretty substantial to go to this last resort decision immediately.
Possibly, the experience that players would have online in Save the World on Mac would be far and away too poor actually to be worth playing, hence this decision. As for what is causing these bugs, it could do with the fact that the game is always online.
Because of that factor, it could be a server issue being caused by the new patch that causes issues for an older version of the game like the 13.40 patch that Mac players are currently stuck with since Epic Games hasn’t been able to update that platform since last month.
Though this is a mostly negative experience for Mac fans of Fortnite, there are some slight bright sides to this whole experience. For starters, there is the fact that Epic Games is generous enough to give a full refund to all players who purchased any Save the World Founder’s or Starter Packs (including any upgrades).
This will only affect the players who purchased the above items from Sept. 17, 2019 and Sept. 17, 2020 on the Mac version of the game. Since this PvE experience isn’t even available on the iOS version of the battle royale game, that isn’t an issue there at all.
In addition to the refunds for the bundles and packs for Save the World, any Mac players who used their V-Bucks on the special llamas in that mode during the same time frame of a year will have those V-Bucks refunded back to them. And as of yesterday, Sept. 17, Save the World Starter Packs are no longer available for Mac purchases.
It saves those players who would like to check out the Save the World portion for some reason right now from purchasing it for nothing. Players should keep in mind that it may take up until Oct. 2 to receive the necessary refunds in their bank account.
This Could Eventually Happen to Battle Royale on Mac
It brings up the question of what will happen to Fortnite battle royale, Creative mode, and so on on the Mac version of the game? This blog post announcement doesn’t bring up those game modes and only focuses on the Save the World portion of the game that is in the same game but separate.
It could meean battle royale, Creative mode, Party Royale, and so on will continue to work on the Mac version of Fortnite and likely the iOS version on iPhone and iPad as long as you don’t delete the game from your device since you possibly can’t redownload it anymore.
It seems that players will be able to play those game modes for the time being — just not Save the World — on both platforms. But it is ultimately inevitable that if this is a problem now for players who try to play Save the World, it will eventually be an issue for battle royale players, too.
It could be when the Season 5 patch drops or some other random update for the game, but it is inevitable that something in the server backend or the update will likely cause an issue for older versions of the game that are still stuck back in Season 3 of Chapter 2.
You Can Keep Playing the Same Account on Other Systems
This will undoubtedly happen, but there are ways to prevent this by following some steps to keep playing Fortnite on Mac (or iOS) without an issue. First and foremost, Epic Games itself made it clear that you can keep playing Save the World on other platforms with no problem.
There is no action needed for the player to receive any refunds. They will retain any V-Bucks, items, etc. that they purchased on their account even if refunded. So, they could very easily play Save the World on a different platform.
Thanks to cross-progression, Save the World is still available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, where Mac players can continue there just as they were playing on the Mac version before. But there is a problem with this as a Mac user might not have a PC or game console to play on. Save the World isn’t available on Android.
Why Can T I Download Fortnite On Mac Download
But you do not need to run out and buy a new PC or console as Save the World (and battle royale when it gets shut down) will continue to be playable on Mac in a couple of ways. Now that game streaming is becoming a bigger deal in the industry; there are many options available to you.
Game Streaming Solutions for Mac Fortnite Users Explained
There are a few streaming platforms that will allow you to stream games on your Mac from the PC version of it and have the latest patches/season. You could use Nvidia GeForce, a platform directly from Nvidia that allows you to turn your Mac into a PC-streaming platform that includes Fortnite and other games.
Of course, you have to own the game already, but that isn’t necessarily a problem with Fortnite that is free-to-play except for Save the World (but you likely already own it if you’re reading this). The problem with GeForce is that, while you can play it for free, you will only be able to play for a limited time before getting sent back to the queue unless you pay for the subscription.
This might not be a problem if you only do a match or two a day, but it could be annoying for those who like to play for long periods or are Fortnite streamers. Another potential option is Rainway, a free service and includes Fortnite on there.
Why Won't Fortnite Run On My Pc
We haven’t had the chance to try it out ourselves, so we can’t testify to how the Rainway service works for Mac users. But the benefit is that it is free, and free is free when it comes to a situation like this where you want to keep playing the same free game without spending extra cash.
An additional benefit is that Rainway does have an app on iOS, so if you are fully embedded in the Apple ecosystem and have an iPhone or iPad as well, you will also be able to keep playing Fortnite on there through it. But there is yet another option that is available to both iOS and MacOS.
If you are willing to splurge a little bit and don’t care too much about spending some money on another monthly subscription, we highly recommend Shadow streaming over GeForce and the other paid options that are out there.
In Shadow’s case, you aren’t just picking a game that you already own and streaming it through its special UI. You are just playing on a PC; that’s it. Through this service, you stream an actual Windows desktop computer for a relatively low price and can do anything on there that you would on a normal PC.
Fortnite Won't Download
You can download the Epic Games Store to play Fortnite, but you can also do work (like this particular author), download games on all other PC platforms, etc. It does cost a monthly subscription, but this author has found that it is cheaper this way than buying a new gaming laptop every few years as I’ve done for the last decade. Shadow works on both iOS and Mac.