iPhones with Fortnite installed hit eBay for crazy prices

By Trevor Mogg August 19, 2020

Used iPhones with Fortnite installed are starting to show up on eBay at ridiculously high price tags.

Apple booted the game out of its App Store last week after Fortnite’s maker, Epic Games, started offering people a way to bypass the tech company’s payment system for optional in-game purchases, depriving Apple of its cut of sales.

If you’re one of the millions of people who already have the game on an iPhone, you can happily carry on playing it. But if the whole Fortnite hype somehow passed you by and you’ve only just decided that you’d actually like to try the game on your Apple-made handset, then you’re out of luck. Unless you want to hand over big money for an iPhone on eBay, that is.

A quick search for “iPhone Fortnite” surfaces numerous pages of possibilities for anyone desperate enough to hand over a large wad of cash for the game, which, don’t forget, can be played across multiple platforms for free.

One listing that features an iPhone 8 Plus had an opening price of $4,000, with two bids pushing it to $4,300, though there’s every chance these are simply fake bids designed to generate interest.

Another listing shows an iPhone XR for $7,000 “or best offer,” while another features an iPhone XR with a starting price of $5,000. It currently has zero bids.

The extraordinary listings reflect the game’s huge popularity, but the absurd prices and fact that most people interested in the game already have it mean that few of these sellers are likely to make a fast buck.

Both Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their app stores last week after Fortnite offered a new option to pay for in-game currency via a direct payment method with a 30% discount, thereby preventing the tech giants from receiving a portion of the sales.

Apple said it removed the game because Epic’s actions broke its developer agreement. Epic hit back by filing a lawsuit against the iPhone maker, arguing that its App Store practices are monopolistic and anti-competitive. The gaming company also filed suit against Google.

It’s worth noting that if you previously had Fortnite on your iPhone and later deleted it, there is a way to reinstall it on your handset — though don’t expect any updates or new content.

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