You can play ‘Fortnite’ for free on your phone so say goodbye to your free time

Over the course of the last few weeks, you might have heard quite a bit about Fortnite.

The survival game was initially released in July last year, and hit its first million players within its first month, seeing even quicker growth on its free-to-play spin-off game Fortnite Battle Royale.

The Epic Games title has quickly risen to be ranked amongst the most popular games on streaming service Twitch. In fact, it’s become so big that you can earn money just for playing it. Not bad for something that didn’t exist 12 months ago.

It’s also proved very popular with international footballers – prompting some bizarre combinations in online collaborative games – but it’s about to spread its wings a great deal further.

Now, anyone with a newer model of iPhone or iPad can play Fortnite Battle Royale on their mobile or tablet device.

It follows a short invite-only beta period, which proved hugely popular, and means you’ll have unrestricted access to the game as long as you have an internet connection and an iPhone SE, 6S, 7, 8 or X, or an iPad Mini 4, Air 2, 2017 or Pro.

The battle royale format sees up to 100 players face off at a time, with competitors winning by being the last person – or last team – standing.

It was released for console and PC gamers in September 2017, and is thought to already have upwards of 45m players, but the iOS release marks the first time it has been available to those playing on mobile.

Fortnite Battle Royale has cross-platform functionality not always seen with online multiplayer games of its ilk – if you’re in a cross-platform party (mobile, PS4, Xbox or PC) rather than a solo game you can find yourself in a battle with players using other devices, though stats and leaderboards remain separate for each different platform.

According to Epic Games, Android support is on its way “within the next few months”, but not everyone’s happy with the updates.

Those with an iPhone 6, or an earlier model, are unable to play the free game and don’t look like gaining access any time soon.