Though invite-only, Fortnite Battle Royale tops iOS charts at launch

Epic Games has brought Fortnite’s free-to-play battle royale mode to mobile, and though access to the game currently requires an invite from Epic, Venture Beat reports that Fortnite Battle Royale has already climbed to the top of the iPhone’s Top Free Apps chart.

Game developers have likely already heard about the fervor surrounding battle royale games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite Battle Royale, so the fact that the latter’s mobile launch has generated a buzz shouldn’t be too surprising. 

As of last night, Sensor Tower listed Fornite Battle Royale as the number one most downloaded game in the United States. Across all app categories, it landed in the number two slot, though it is worth noting that the rankings reflect downloads during a set period of time and not an all-time download record.

The mobile app has some interesting quirks worth mentioning though, namely that the mobile version of the previously PC and Console only game offers cross-platform play and shared progression between PC, Mac, Xbox One, iOS, PlayStation 4, and eventually Android (though PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players are unable to connect with each other, seemingly at Sony’s behest).

And Fortnite’s mobile launch notably falls just as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ mobile version is soft launching in the West through an Android-only release in Canada.

Right now the mobile spin on Fortnite Battle Royale is only out on iOS, and even then an invite from Epic is required to download it, likely in a bid to keep the servers from being overwhelmed. Those invites are hardly exclusive though; even though the game has begun its launch process, interested parties can still submit their name and email address for eventual invite consideration on Epic’s website.