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Fortnite for the Switch was downloaded 2 million times in under 24 hours

Fortnite for the Switch was downloaded 2 million times in under 24 hours

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Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Yesterday, Nintendo announced the immediate availability of free-to-play megahit Fortnite for its Switch console. And in under 24 hours, the game has been downloaded more than 2 million times, according to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé. Speaking with Polygon today, Fils-Aimé said the metric speaks to a lot of pent-up demand for the game on a console like the Switch, because of its inherent portability and the ability to sync your Epic account across multiple platforms and have all your in-game items and progress unlocked.

Unfortunately, the launch has been somewhat mired by a controversy around cross-play and cross-progression between the Switch and Sony’s PlayStation 4, with Sony remaining silent on its decision to block PS4 players from using their accounts on competing platforms. Despite that, it seems Switch users are nonetheless interested in getting the game up and running, especially given that it’s free.

Even for those who do play primarily on PS4, having Fortnite on a portable console is better than not at all (or the mobile version, which is still somewhat difficult to play without Bluetooth controller support). In his hands-on time with the game, The Verge‘s Sam Byford found the Switch port to be a competent alternative to console and PC play, albeit with some noticeable graphical deficiencies and somewhat more cumbersome controls.

Yesterday, developer Epic Games announced that Fortnite has 125 million registered players since its launch in July of last year, and a vast majority of them are playing its competitive battle royale mode. Now that Fortnite is on the Switch, the only other major platform left untapped is Android, which Epic says should arrive later this summer.