Eli Becht
During Nintendo’s E3 2018 showcase we saw a trailer announcing the release of Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch.
Lot of details regarding the game were leaked in recent days but it’s still a nice sight to see if you’re a fan of the wildly popular battle royale game.
While this is great news for those looking to expand their Fortnite gameplay to something more portable, it does bring a bit of bad news if you’ve been doing most of your playing on the PS4.
Since Sony has been pretty resistant so far to cross-play this generation so those on the Switch won’t be able to play with their friends on PS4.
Even worse, it seems like anyone who has spent time playing on the PS4 and has linked their Epic Games account to their PS4 account won’t be able to use their account on the Switch.
It appears whoever tries to play on the Switch after previously being on the PS4 they will be greeted with the following message:
@E3 @FortniteGame @EpicGames I just want to play your game. Why would you do this to your customers?
“This Fortnite account is associated with a platform which does not allow it to operate on Switch. Neither the Fortnite website nor Epic Customer Service are able to change this. To Play Fortnite on Switch, please create a new account.”
This certainly an unintended consequence but it seems like the matter is completely out of Epic Games’ hands and the blame lies on Sony. Games like Fortnite, Rocket League and Minecraft have all had their cross-platform play halted by Sony’s insistence.
It seems like the only workaround for this issue is to create a brand new account just for playing on the Switch. While that will cause you to lose all of your Battle Pass progress and your skins you may have purchased, it will at least give you the ability to play on the Switch.
This doesn’t affect anybody who is on Xbox One, PC or iOS so you won’t have to worry about anything on that end.
While this does certainly darken the mood on an otherwise good day for Fortnite, it might be something that can looked at into the future.
@tomwarren @aegies Xbox One, PC, Mac, and mobile.
As more and more games are held back by Sony’s cross-platform rules, it’s possible more gamers will cry out for a change to be made.
Sony’s PS4 is the best selling console this generation by far so we’re stuck playing by their rules since they are on top.
Today at E3 is also the day of the Fortnite Pro-Am 50 teams of streamers and celebrities have teamed up and they will fight against one another to claim the elusive Victory Royale. The event begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is out now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC via the Epic Games Launcher. For more Fortnite: Battle Royale coverage, content and guides stay with us here at Heavy. Make sure you check out the rest of our gaming coverage too.
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