People are flipping iPhones with ‘Fortnite’ installed for as much as $10,000

It was bound to happen. With Fortnite removed from the App Store over Epic Games’ clear defiance of Apple taking a 30 percent cut for all app revenue, eBay sellers are rushing to take advantage of the public fallout in hopes of making a quick buck.

A search for “iPhone Fortnite” on eBay brings up dozens of listings for used iPhones with Fortnite installed on them. These listings range from cracked devices with the game selling for around $100 to non-broken devices going for anywhere between $1,000 to $5,000. The most egregious listing is hoping some sucker will pony up $10,000 for an iPhone with Fortnite. Best of luck, bud!

Don’t buy them — We highly recommend not buying any of these even if you do have the money to burn on them. Don't let these people take advantage of the situation. That's just stupid.

I̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶v̶i̶o̶u̶s̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶l̶o̶a̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶F̶o̶r̶t̶n̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶i̶O̶S̶ ̶d̶e̶v̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶n̶i̶n̶s̶t̶a̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶g̶o̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶-̶d̶o̶w̶n̶l̶o̶a̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶i̶C̶l̶o̶u̶d̶.̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶a̶p̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶c̶o̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶p̶p̶ S̶t̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶“̶P̶u̶r̶c̶h̶a̶s̶e̶d̶.̶”̶ ̶S̶e̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶F̶o̶r̶t̶n̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶l̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶t̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶v̶a̶i̶l̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶p̶p̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶A̶p̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶

Fornite will return — This whole war against Apple (and Google) has two likely outcomes. Epic triumphs with its lawsuit and successfully paints Apple as a monopolist that stifles innovation by exerting iron-clad control over the App Store and iOS. Apple is then forced to change its rules and allow developers to charge for in-app purchases without giving it a 30 percent cut or has to allow alternative app stores. Alternatively, Apple wins and an embarrassed Epic backtracks and accepts Apple’s terms to restore Fornite to the App Store.

Either way, Epic’s call to Fortnite players to #FreeFortnite is misguided. As games pundit Jim Sterling astutely noted several days ago: players don’t care. They’re not interested in this silly corporate feud between several massive corporations. There’s no incentive to really take up digital arms.

Epic is playing hardball in an attempt to pressure Apple to change the App Store rules. But the reality is, Epic needs the iOS platform more than Apple does Fornite. Not being able to distribute Fornite to the billions of iOS users out there will hurt Epic’s bottom line — big time. It would be in both Epic and Apple's interests to come to an agreement and bring Fortnite back to the App Store for consumers. So fret not and remember that Fornite is a big business — it’ll most likely return because neither Apple nor Epic want to see that big business stop benefiting them.

Update: This story was updated on August 28 to reflect Apple's termination of Epic's developer account and as a result, the removal of all Epic games from the App Store including Fortnite and Infinity Blade. Fortnite can no longer be redownloaded from the App Store's "Purchased" section even if you've previously downloaded it before.