Update, March 13, 2018: Turns out that cross-play is coming for Xbox owners, but not with PS4, as Sony continues to lock Microsoft out of its ecosystem. Head over here for the new announcement.
Original article:
Fortnite is primarily a battle royale shooter, where 100 players parachute into a large map and fight to the last person standing. Unlike Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite sports a over-the-top cartoony aesthetic, complete with wacky weapons, a robust fortress construction mechanic, and updates at breakneck speed. Oh, and did I mention that it's completely free?
Fortnite remains one of the most popular games on Windows PC right now, dominating streaming sites like Twitch and Mixer. And soon, Epic is bringing the full experience to iOS and Android, complete with progression syncing and cross-play between PC, PlayStation 4, and ...not Xbox.
In a statement on Epic Games' website, the company lauded the opportunity for mobile phone players to get in on the action with PlayStation and PC players, noting that the studio is working with "their friends at Sony" on the game's cross-play systems.
Fortnite Battle Royale is coming to mobile devices! On phones and tablets, Fortnite is the same 100-player game you know from PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac. Same gameplay, same map, same content, same weekly updates. Starting Monday, you can sign-up for the Invite Event on iOS. Support for Android will be coming in the next few months.In partnership with our friends at Sony, Fortnite Battle Royale will support Cross Play and Cross Progression between PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, iOS and eventually Android. This means players across devices can squad up with friends and play together.
If you have an iOS device, you can jump on to Fortnite's website on March 12th to sign up for the invite event.
Considering Epic Games has "accidentally" enabled cross-play between Xbox and PlayStation before, why Xbox has been excluded here is anyone's guess, since the infrastructure is clearly there. It sounds as though Fortnite has some form of deal with Sony to make this a reality, shutting Xbox fans out in the process.
We'll reach out to Epic Games for a statement, but at least if you're playing on a Windows PC, you'll be able to get in on the cross-play action if you have a PS4, Android, or iOS device in the future.
