Epic says Apple's disabling 'Sign in with Apple' for Fortnite soon

Fortnite Hands On Hero (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

Epic has tweeted to warn users that Apple is going to block Sign in with Apple for Fortnite.
That could leave gamers unable to access their accounts.
Epic has a support article explaining what to do.

Epic Games has today tweeted out that Apple will "no longer allow users to sign into Fortnite using "Sign In with Apple" as soon as September 11, 2020". That could potentially leave gamers unable to play Fortnite, even if they already have it installed. It could prevent them from accessing their data entirely, too.

Sign in with Apple allows users to create accounts with apps and services without giving them their email address and creating a password. Instead, Apple acts as the middle-man and users sign in using their Apple ID credentials. Apple is stopping that from working, although it isn't clear exactly when.

Apple will no longer allow users to sign into Fortnite using “Sign In with Apple” as soon as September 11, 2020. If you used “Sign In with Apple”, please make sure your email and password are up to date. https://t.co/T0Rq0tfrR7Apple will no longer allow users to sign into Fortnite using “Sign In with Apple” as soon as September 11, 2020. If you used “Sign In with Apple”, please make sure your email and password are up to date. https://t.co/T0Rq0tfrR7— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) September 9, 2020 September 9, 2020

Epic has a new support document online that will guide users through the steps needed to ensure they can get around Apple's move – they'll need to update their Epic account to their real email address and create a proper password.

Apple will point to App Store rules and say that no developer account equals no Sign in with Apple. But the account is long gone and the feature still works. It might be in the paperwork, but this clearly isn't a technical limitation. Apple could keep Sign in with Apple working if it wanted to.

We all know why Apple is doing this and, frankly, it all seems too petty for words. This doesn't impact Epic one bit. It impacts Epic's users.

Apple will do well to remember that they're its users, too.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.