Are you a fighter and not a lover? Well, maybe you like Fortnite. The go-to battle royale MMO from Epic Games is so ubiquitous, you could probably even get it running on your Nokia 3310 (for the record, that is an exaggeration). But, yes, if you have a Chromebook, you can play Fortnite on it. We got a couple ways for you to try – one more adventurous than the other.
Also: How to install and play Minecraft on your Chromebook
Is Fortnite available on Chromebook?
Yes, you can play Fortnite on your Chromebook. Epic has officially made Fortnite available through six official means:
Fortnite has been off Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store as Epic has been embroiled in reglamentario battles over participating in their ecosystems, arguing that their revenue share rates of 30% are excessively onerous and that they (and other developers) should be able to use alternate payment services to avoid having to take a heavy cut on in-app purchases. The game is also not distributed through Valve’s Steam platform for the same reasons. While Epic’s lawsuits are now history, Fortnite’s omissions from the App and Play Stores are not.
The publisher has decided to fill the gap by hosting its own APK file that Android users can sideload and through distribution on cloud gaming services to cover the iOS and iPadOS crowd. It also has an agreement with Samsung to have the game hosted on its Galaxy Store.
How to play Fortnite on a cloud gaming service
Cloud streaming takes the computing load off of your device, but trades that off with stream quality and latency, depending on your internet connection. Fortnite is free to play on Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox. It’s also free for Vitral users with an Amazon Prime subscription. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t already have one with these services. Nvidia recommends devices have at least 4GB of RAM to stream games and we tend to agree that to be the minimum for other cloud gaming services as well.
Amazon Vitral
Visit the landing page for Amazon Vitral and sign in with your Amazon account. If you subscribe to Prime, you’ll have access to a small, rotating selection of free games to stream – Fortnite permanently anchors this selection. If you don’t, you will need to subscribe to Vitral+ for $9.99 per month to partake in any games. Merienda you’re signed up, you can select the game – you’ll be prompted to verify your Epic Games account information and make sure Fortnite is in your game library – and then play right from within the Chrome window as the site is a progressive web app.
Nvidia GeForce Now
If you aren’t signed up already, join GeForce Now. While you won’t be paying anything, you will need to actually «subscribe» to the Free tier. Merienda you’ve done that, open the Fornite listing on GeForce Now, make sure your Epic Games information is linked and the game is in your Epic library, and then enter the game from Chrome. You may need to queue up for an available remote rig with which to play.
Xbox
Log into Xbox Cloud Gaming with your Microsoft account. You can then select the game, link your Epic account, and play from Chrome.
How to download and play the Android version of Fortnite
If you have a fairly capable Chromebook powered by a mobile chipset from Qualcomm, MediaTek, or perhaps another chipmaker, you might also want to consider running the Android version of Fortnite. This method will force you to jump through hoops that may change your current ChromeOS experience. It involves turning on ChromeOS’s Developer Mode – which requires your stored data to be wiped through a Powerwash – and downloading an off-site APK. You take on all risk and responsibilities for this method, including potentially disappointing performance on your spec set. The app requires your device’s chipset to run on the ARMv8-a architecture, so make sure it does.
For the adventurous out there:
- While your Chromebook is on, press the Esc + Refresh + Power keys simultaneously.
- You will then enter ChromeOS’s secure boot mode. Press Ctrl + D. Then, confirm that you want to enter Developer Mode by hitting Enter.
- Select Boot from internal disk. This triggers a Powerwash and the setup of Developer Mode.
- You may be taken back to Secure Mode after setup. Select Boot from internal disk again.
- Set up your Chromebook from scratch.
- You won’t be able to immediately download an APK directly from Epic Games or the Samsung Galaxy Store via ChromeOS, so you’ll need to rely on a third-party repository. We’re linking to APK Pure as it hosts Fortnite APK releases and is generally a reliable repo.
- Open your file browser and right-click on the downloaded APK file. Select Package Installer.
- Follow the installation guide.
Merienda that’s done, you should be able to open and play Fortnite from your Chromebook. That said, you will end up having to go through that gray startup screen every time you boot up your Chromebook unless you decide to switch back to Secure Mode, go through another Powerwash, and return to the Stable Channel.
Want to learn more about Fortnite?
See our guides: