Nvidia has been offering limited access in GeForce Now for a closed beta of a mobile-specific version of Fortnite that includes touch controls, and on this GFN Thursday, the game is finally going live for the masses. Seeing that I've been testing this title for the last few days, I figured it's prudent to write up my thoughts while also covering what's to be expected with today's GFN Thursday drop. So strap in, as Fortnite is back on the Play Store, sort of, but you'll have to stream it through the GeForce Now app.

I've recorded 20-minutes of Fortnite gameplay footage to illustrate the new touch controls in the fresh GeForce Now release. As you can see, the game looks great, without much lag/stutter to be seen.

Fortnite has had a crazy history on Android, first launching on Epic's site, then moving to the Play Store inside of an Epic-made launcher, with the game eventually removed from the Play Store altogether, returning to Epic's site as the official way to download and install the game. It's a long history filled with lawsuits and accusations on both sides, and as you can imagine, money is lost when games aren't readily available on the Play Store for the masses, as sideloading APKs isn't for everyone.

In comes GeForce Now with a quick fix. Why not stream the game? Well, thanks to Nvidia's game streaming tech, like its 3080 tier, you can now stream Fortnite with exceptional graphical fidelity on Android (while the game has been available on the platform, this is a new mobile-specific version), complete with touch controls. Of course, streaming doesn't always have the best reputation, thanks to the ephemeral nature of the tech, but thankfully, even with fancy graphics that blow the native Android version out of the water, all of my mobile streams when testing the game were pretty stable. When you do run into lag spikes, they are short-lived, though you can feel them as movement slows, as inputs can be less precise. Thankfully I only ran into these spikes when starting a stream, and once in a match, things were solid. I even managed to get a few kills, and I'm horrible at Fortnite.

Fortnite touch control gameplay (1)

Hands-down, the game looks great, so consider my mind blown, especially for portable play. Nvidia seems to be constantly improving its streaming tech. Even better, the touch controls are pretty much spot on. Yes, much like the native Android version, you'll have to get used to them, but really, if you've played a mobile shooter with touch controls, few differ that much. Seriously, if I didn't know I was streaming, I'd have thought the game was native with the responsiveness of the controls.

Of course, Epic finally partnering with Nvidia to work around its bans on mobile isn't today's only news, as this is still GFN Thursday, and so subscribers can expect a handful of new titles to drop today.

GFN Thursday Vampire The Masquerade Swansong
  • DEADCRAFT (New release on Steam)
  • Old World (New release on Steam)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade Swansong (New release on Epic Games Store)
  • Dolmen (New Release on Steam, May 20)
  • Trigon: Space Story (Epic Games Store)

The standout in this list is Vampire: The Masquerade Swansong, offering a mix of detective play and RPG mechanics, and if you're into strategy games like Civilization, then Old World should also be on your radar.

So there you have it. In a roundabout way Fortnite is back again on the Play Store, courtesy of the GeForce Now app, and it plays great, to the point it almost feels native. Pair that with a few new releases on the streaming platform, and this is easily a significant week for GeForce Now. So what are you waiting for? It's time to get streaming for those sweet, sweet chicken dinners.