Epic Games Launching Cross-Platform Support Project
Contrary to popular belief, Fortnite is a force for good in this culture, not evil. Epic Games is now using the success they achieved from their game to improve the state of the video game market. After successfully planting the cross-platform flag across all current consoles (PS4, XBox One, Switch and PC), Epic is sharing the fruits of that labor — for free.
They’re working on a version of the cross-platform play software used in Fortnite that can be plugged into any game with the same results. If Epic’s efforts are successful, multiplayer matches between all users (regardless of personal console choice) could become the norm, not just for Fortnite but for most games out there.
Here is Epic’s list of all the features it hopes to make commonplace in 2019. We think this is awesome, personally.
Cross-Platform Login, Friends, Presence, Profile, and Entitlements (coming Q2-Q3 2019 to PC, other platforms throughout 2019): Provides the core functionality for persistently recognizing players across multiple sessions and devices; identifying friends; and managing free and paid item entitlements. This will support all 7 major platforms (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch) to the full extent each platform allows per-title.
PC/Mac Overlay API (coming Q3 2019): Provides a user interface for login, friends, and other features in a game-agnostic, engine-agnostic way.
Cross-Platform Voice Comms (coming Q3 2019 to all platforms): Epic is building a new in-game voice communications service supporting all platforms, all stores, and all engines, which will be available for free. (For developers needing an immediately-available voice solution, check out Discord, Vivox, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, and Mumble.)
Cross-Platform Parties and Matchmaking (coming Q3-4 2019 to all platforms)
Cross-Platform Data Storage, Cloud-Saved Games (coming Q2 2019)
Cross-Platform Achievements and Trophies (coming Q3 2019)