With the release of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X just around the corner, it was a no-brainer that Fortnite, one of the most popular multiplayer games ever, would be brought over to these next-gen consoles.
It’s been confirmed that Fortnite will be playable on both the Xbox Series X and PS5 on launch day. The question is: what changes will be made to the game to account for the advanced hardware?
Fortnite PS5 / Xbox Series X Details
First things first: crossplay will be enabled from the get-go, allowing players to connect with each other in Fortnite regardless of what platform is being used.
Epic Games has confirmed that the initial launch of Fortnite on the new consoles will be using the Unreal Engine 4. Any improvements to graphics and performance will be marginal, and for the most part, the game will be similar to its iterations on current consoles.
The big changes will come with the release of Unreal Engine 5, which is said to be ready in late-2021. Epic Games will be using Fortnite to test aspects of Unreal Engine 5, so players will actually see a major shift from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 sometime in the middle of 2021. It’s here that we could see noticeable changes in visuals and game performance.
And so, while Fortnite for PS5 and Xbox Series X won’t be a sequel or a major upgraded edition, the porting over to Unreal Engine 5 will allow the game to take advantage of the next-gen consoles’ new hardware, and players will see a strong difference in resolution and how these games play on the consoles.
Additionally, Fortnite will, as always, be free to play on launch day, which will be a tremendous boon for people who’ve already spent several hundred bucks on a new console, as well as additional funds on any launch titles.
It will be interesting to see which other free-to-play multiplayer games make the jump to PS5 and Xbox Series X; Warframe will be ported over to the new consoles, although no release date has been announced yet.
For now, it’s looking like Fortnite has the monopoly on free-to-play multiplayer games, and with multiplayer games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War going for full price, it’s looking like Fortnite will remain the most popular multiplayer game around.
