Fortnite is still a thing, right? I don’t say that as a jest, but it just seems like nobody ever talks about the game part of the game. Sure, there are concerts by famous rappers that bring in millions of viewers and promotional tie-ins with obnoxious Marvel heroes, and Epic recently confirmed that the game has 350 million registered users (that’s nearly 5% of the world’s population), but all the same, I don’t think I personally know anyone that plays Fortnite. Despite my own gaming blind spots, this doesn’t mean that Fortnite isn’t still the biggest thing in the gaming world and perhaps an important part of the expanding metaverse surrounding it. Looking to keep that momentum going—and somewhat lost in the shuffle of this morning’s Unreal Engine 5 demo—is the news that Fortnite is not only coming to the PlayStation 5 (and Xbox Series X, but…c’mon), but the battle royale phenomenon that now defines an entire generation of gamers is coming as a launch title.
In a world where console launches often leave much to be desired in regards to available games, you can do a lot worse than a free title that is also one of the most played on the planet. Announced by Epic in a blog post that accompanied its deluge of info from earlier today came the announcement that Fortnite will be next-gen ready when Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming hardware hits retail. “Today we’re excited to confirm that Fortnite will be headed to next-generation consoles at launch. This is the same Fortnite you know and love, ready to take full advantage of the newest consoles. We’ll be sharing more specific details in the coming months as we get closer to launch. Before then, here are some answers to a few questions you might have,” said the Fortnite team.
The most exciting aspect of this new is that the team confirms that Fortnite will be moving over to Unreal Engine 5 sometime in 2021. Seriously, did you see the gameplay tech demo? It’s incredible and this move is some fantastic synergy for Fortnite, Epic, and PlayStation fans. The team said, “While we can’t share specifics at the moment, more powerful hardware will allow us to improve performance and visuals. At launch, the version of Fortnite we release on next-gen consoles will be built with Unreal Engine 4. We will migrate Fortnite to Unreal Engine 5 in mid-2021.”
Don’t worry though. If you aren’t upgrading to next-gen, Epic plans to continue supporting Fortnite on all existing platforms. If you have questions about account migration, cross-play, or anything then feel free to look over the blog post for all the deets. There is a confirmation that this next-gen Fortnite will support cross-play, putting to rest any past animosity around Sony and its proclivities with not letting anyone else play with their proverbial toys.
Fortnite PS5 is coming when the PlayStation 5 does this holiday season….Whenever that is.
