With all the hoopla around Unreal Engine 5's delicious demo on PlayStation 5, Epic's plan for Fortnite on next-gen consoles almost went unnoticed, but here it is regardless.
It was pretty clear from the demo that Epic will be ready for next-gen when it launches. As for Fortnite, they promised"the same Fortnite you know and love, ready to take full advantage of the newest consoles."
Note that next-gen Fortnite is by no means a new version of the game. It's still the same ol' Fortnite, only optimised to put the next-gen hardware and features to use.
"While we can’t share specifics at the moment, more powerful hardware will allow us to improve performance and visuals", Epic wrote.
Most players are probably hoping to see Fortnite utilise the features seen in the Unreal Engine 5 demo, but those will not be available in time for the launch of next-gen consoles.
Fortnite's Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 editions are built in the current edition of Epic's engine, Unreal Engine 4, which should dispel any compatibility concerns.
Sometime in mid-2021, however, Fortnite will be making the switch to Unreal Engine 5, when we expect to see the features we've seen in the Lumen in the Land of Nanite presentation.
Epic will likely need some time to migrate Fortnite onto the new engine, but it's safe to assume that their globally popular battle royale will run in all the UE5 glory before 2021 ends.
The company stressed that cross-progression will be retained and progress carried over. Same goes for cross-play, of which Epic are one of the biggest proponents in the industry.
As for the current platforms, players have nothing to worry about as they'll continue to be supported and will run in tandem with next-gen.
You can find the announcement here .
Fortnite: Chapter 2 - Season 11 has finally arrived
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