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Fortnite’s latest update makes Xbox One and PS4 cross-play the default for battle royale

Fortnite’s latest update makes Xbox One and PS4 cross-play the default for battle royale

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Bringing a whole new meaning to console wars

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Sony turned on cross-play as an opt-in beta for Fortnite on the PS4 last fall, but the latest v8.10 patch for the popular battle royale game is making it the default. Now, all Xbox One and PS4 players will be grouped into the same pool for matchmaking in Fortnite’s battle royale mode.

Players will still technically have to opt in to agree to play against players on the opposite console. But Epic Games isn’t really leaving players much of a choice: the ones who don’t opt in will be limited to just Creative Mode and Playgrounds.

Players who don’t opt in will be limited to just Creative Mode and Playgrounds

Along with the grouping of Xbox One and PS4 players in the same matchmaking pool, the Nintendo Switch — which had previously been placed in the same group as the other consoles — is getting bumped down to the mobile pool. That means Switch players will be placed in games against iOS and Android users by default now. Epic says it combined those player groups to provide “an on-average better per-game experience for both Mobile and Switch players.”

On a broader level, Epic says that the newly merged Xbox One / PS4 and mobile / Switch pools are for optimizing purposes, which will allow it to “run more playlists during more hours of the day while supporting more data center locations.”

Also new in the patch is a “Baller” vehicle, a hamster ball-like single-seat vehicle that includes an attached grapple that will let players have some new traversal options as they make their way across the map.