Fortnite is one of the most popular online games yet it isn’t available all around the world. That, at least, is the case if you are NOT using a VPN. Cause if you do, no one can stop you from fighting your fight in Epic’s virtual world.
Many schools and workplaces are notorious for blocking users from accessing online games, and the same is true for various high-censorship countries. Again, this won’t affect you if you’re using a good VPN. And that’s what this page is all about – to show you the best VPN options for Fortnite.
Beyond online gaming, a good VPN has much more to offer. Perhaps most important is its ability to keep you anonymous online by hiding your real IP address — which would be the one provided by your ISP. The fact that it will change your IP also lets you access parts of the Internet that could otherwise be outside of your reach. Plus, because of the encryption it uses, a VPN will make connecting to public Wi-Fi much more secure.
In a nutshell, we think everyone should be using a VPN these days, and these are your best options:
Pros
Cons
- 5,000+ servers in the network
- Easy to use - install it and forget it
- One license is good for up to 6 devices
- Strict zero-logs policy
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Chrome extension is just a proxy
- You can't pay with PayPal
Summary
Its network includes more than 5,000 servers spread across 60 countries, which directly translates into faster speeds. NordVPN is also very secure, relying on the strong 256-bit encryption combined with secure VPN protocols (OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2/IPSec). But as a user, you get a seamless experience with all this technology "doing its thing" in the background.
NordVPN is well suited to pretty much every task you throw at it — whether it's accessing a banned site from some country that filters out the internet, torrenting, accessing streaming services, or just wanting to keep a low profile on the web. It also doesn't keep any logs.
We highly recommend NordVPN to anyone looking for reliable service.
Pros
Cons
- Feature-rich yet easy to use
- One of the best VPNs around
- Strong no-logging policy
- Reliable support you can reach 24/7
- Limited number of servers in Africa and the Middle East
- Kinda pricey
Summary
ExpressVPN has great desktop apps for Windows and Mac, mobile apps and browser extensions. Also, it is well suited for video streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and others.
However, what makes it stand out is its ease of use. We can't emphasize this enough. One could tell a lot of time has been spent making sure even the advanced features are easily accessible. And we love it for that. Plus, let's not forget ExpressVPN's speed which tends to leave other services in the dust.
Pros
Cons
- It's super fast!
- Works with Netflix, BBC and others
- Easy to use apps, browser extensions
- You can try it for free!
- Some advanced features are not configurable
- Not the best for high-censorship countries
Summary
Furthermore, thanks to the availability of browser extensions - Hotspot Shield is also one of our top choices for Chrome and Firefox VPNs.
Your privacy is equally well protected, with the software only collecting some anonymized that help continually improve its service.
There is one caveat though - it won't work in high-censorship countries like China. If you don't need that in the first place, we highly recommend Hotspot Shield.
As that's typically the case with most VPN services out there, the longer you commit - the better deal you get. However, what makes Hotspot Shield even better is the fact that it offers a 7-day free trial of its service. A few other top VPN providers do the same. Plus, its money-back guarantee lasts for 45 days, making for a risk-free purchase. Cause, you can always get your money back. Sweet and just the way we like it.
Pros
Cons
- One the best VPNs for torrenting
- Works well with Netflix
- Simple setup on all popular devices
- Strict zero-logs policy
- Doesn't work with BBC iPlayer
- Doesn't work in China
Summary
Its desktop apps are not among the prettiest ones, but they get the job done. The important thing is that installation is easy and straightforward, and that no logs are kept by the company.
When it comes to pricing, IPVanish is somewhere in the middle — it's not the most affordable option but also not the most expensive one. As noted, it will be most appreciated by heavy BitTorrent users, and — related — Kodi fans.
Pros
Cons
- Reliable download and upload speeds
- Works with Netflix and BBC iPlayer
- Strict zero-logs policy
- Lets you use it on unlimited number of devices
- Low number of servers in Africa and Australia
Summary
You can rely on it for streaming and torrenting, with included extra features like CleanWeb and MultiHop, delivering a that much better — and more secure — experience.
Surfshark, the company, is based in the British Virgin Islands and with its zero-logs policy makes for a powerful combo to anyone looking to keep its web whereabouts under the radar.
The service is easy to use and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Fortnite 101
Released in 2017, Fortnite is a widely-popular online video game developed by Epic Games. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine:
Fortnite: Save the World
Fortnite: Save the World is a player-versus-environment cooperative game, with four players collaborating towards a common goal on various missions. The game is set after a fluke storm appears across Earth, causing 98% of the population to disappear, and the survivors are attacked by zombie-like “husks”. The players take the role of commanders of home base shelters, collecting resources, saving survivors, and defending equipment that helps to either collect data on the storm or to push back the storm. Along the way, players are awarded a number of in-game items, which include hero characters, weapon and trap schematics, and survivors, all of which can be leveled up through gained experience to improve their attributes.
Fortnite Battle Royale
This is a player-versus-player game for up to 100 players, allowing one to play alone, in a duo, or in a squad usually consisting of three or four players. Weaponless players airdrop from a “Battle Bus” that crosses the game’s map. When they land, they must scavenge for weapons, items, resources, and even vehicles while trying to stay alive and to attack and eliminate other players. Over the course of a round, the safe area of the map shrinks down in size due to an incoming toxic storm. Those who remain outside that threshold take damage and can be eliminated if they fail to quickly evacuate. This forces remaining players into tighter spaces and encourages player encounters. The last player, duo, or squad remaining is the winner.
Fortnite Creative
A sandbox game mode, Fortnite Creative is similar to Minecraft in that players are given complete freedom to spawn everything that is within the game on an island, and can create games such as battle arenas, race courses, platforming challenges, and more. In this mode, players can knock down existing structures on the map to collect basic resources that are wood, brick, and metal. Subsequently, in all modes, they can use these materials to build fortifications, such as walls, floors, and stairs. For instance, within Save the World – this enables players to create defensive fortifications around an objective or trap-filled tunnels to lure husks through. And in Battle Royale, this provides the means to quickly traverse the map, protect oneself from enemy fire, or to delay an advancing foe.
While Battle Royale and Creative are free-to-play, Save the World is not free. The games are monetized through the use of V-Bucks, an in-game currency that can be purchased with real-world funds, but also earned through completing missions and other achievements in Save the World.
Fortnite numbers
The Save the World mode achieved over one million players by August 2017, just prior to the release of Battle Royale.
Consequently, Epic Games had a big financial success with Fortnite Battle Royale, hitting 10 million players within two weeks of release. By June 2018, just after the Nintendo Switch release, it had reached 125 million players.
Revenue from Fortnite Battle Royale during the first half of 2018 had been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars per month, with total 2018 revenue estimated at $2.4 billion by analysis firm SuperData Research. Total revenue for Fortnite reached more than $9 billion by the end of 2019.
Epic Games vs Apple & Google
In August 2020, Epic Games launched a lawsuit against Apple in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, related to Apple’s practices in the iOS App Store. Epic Games specifically had challenged Apple’s restrictions on apps from having other in-app purchasing methods outside of the one offered by the App Store. Epic Games’ founder Tim Sweeney had previously challenged the 30% revenue cut that Apple takes on each purchase made in the App Store, and with their game Fortnite, wanted to either bypass Apple or have Apple take less of a cut.
Epic implemented changes in Fortnite intentionally on August 13, 2020, to bypass the App Store payment system, prompting Apple to block the game from the App Store and leading to Epic filing its lawsuit. Apple filed a countersuit, asserting Epic purposely breached its terms of contract with Apple to goad it into action, and defended itself from Epic’s suit.
In a September 2021 ruling in the first part of the case, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decided in favor of Apple on nine of ten counts, but found against Apple on its anti-steering policies under the California Unfair Competition Law. Rogers prohibited Apple from stopping developers from informing users of other payment systems within apps. Epic has appealed the ruling.
Epic also filed another lawsuit, Epic Games v. Google, the same day, which challenges Google’s similar practices on the Google Play app store for Android, after Google pulled Fortnite following the update for similar reasons as Apple. However, Google has stressed that the legal situation around their case is not the same around Apple’s.
Fortnite impact
Fortnite Battle Royale has also become a cultural phenomenon, with several celebrities reporting they play the game. Also, we have seen athletes using Fortnite emotes as victory celebrations.
A notable streaming event took place in March 2018, when streamer Ninja played Fortnite Battle Royale alongside Drake, Travis Scott, Kim DotCom, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. This team managed to break viewership records for Twitch to date, prompting Epic to arrange a Fortnite Battle Royale pro-am with 50 pairs of streamers and professional players matched with celebrities at E3 2018 in June 2018. The company has even organized esports competitions around Fortnite Battle Royale, including the inaugural $30 million Fortnite World Cup tournament that took place in July 2019.
In 2017, the game was nominated for “Best Co-op Game” by PC Gamer, and for “Best Spectator Game” by IGN. In 2018, the game won the award for Best Ongoing Game by PC Gamer and IGN, the latter of which nominated it for “Best Nintendo Switch Game”, “Best Mobile Game”, and “Best Action Game”.
You may need a VPN to play Fortnite…
You may get to enjoy the game without a VPN, except when you are in some places that prevent you from doing so. We are talking about schools and universities, workplaces and so on. Also, censors in some countries prohibit users from playing many online games, Fortnite included.
But that’s just one piece of the puzzle as a good VPN has much more to offer. For instance, it will:
- Protect your privacy from the government and big corporations
- Bypass restrictions imposed by the government or various organizations
- Change your IP address so you get unrestricted access to Netflix, Disney+, iPlayer, HULU, and other video streaming services
- Encrypt and protect private data from cybercriminals
The top contenders that check all these boxes include the following:
