Fortnite coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X on new engine

Michael Gwilliam

Epic Games have announced that Fortnite will be coming to next-generation consoles at launch as the title transitions from the Unreal Engine 4 to 5 in 2021.

In a blog post on the Epic Games site, the team laid out some of there plans for the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The big question on everyone’s mind is: how will this affect account progression and items purchased. The good news is that it won’t.

[ad name=”article1″]

Fortnite won’t see a graphical upgrade at launch.

“We plan to support cross-progression across console generations and platforms so that your account, progression, and items carry over,” the team said in its announcement.

Furthermore, the game will continue to support cross-play between systems, so PS5 owners will still be able to play with and against PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and mobile players, and vice versa.

All your progression will carry over to next-gen consoles.

[ad name=”article2″]

While the game will be coming to next-gen consoles, the team says they will continue to support the game on existing platforms, so even if you don’t get a PS5 or new Xbox at launch, Fortnite will remain the same for you.

What’s really interesting, however, is how the game will take advantage of the new hardware, something Epic says it’s excited to share more info on soon.

“While we can’t share specifics at the moment, more powerful hardware will allow us to improve performance and visuals,” they announced. “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.”

Fortnite will be ready at launch for PS5 and Xbox Series X.

[ad name=”article3″]

For those looking forward to the new batch of consoles, the fact that Fortnite will be available right off the bat is certainly good news for fans of the game looking for something familar.

Of course, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X will have backward compatibility so while this news might not be too surprising, especially considering all the platforms Fortnite is already on, it’s reassuring to see that Epic is ready for the upgraded systems.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam