Fortnite Tweaks Cross-Play Across Consoles And Mobile

Fortnite's latest patch — v8.10 — has arrived across all platforms, and it's bringing some interesting changes to the way cross-play works on both home consoles and mobile platforms.

According to USgamer, cross-platform matchmaking now exists in two pools. One group contains Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players. The other group contains Nintendo Switch and mobile players. The change was reportedly made in order to avoid having Switch players match up against those on Xbox and PlayStation 4, and we have to say, the tweak is understandable.

As impressive as the Nintendo Switch is as a hybrid, it's simply not on the same power level as either the PS4 or Xbox One. The game runs at a far lower resolution, and important aspects like draw distance are tamped down significantly on Nintendo's machine. The result is a version of Fortnite that puts players at a disadvantage when facing those with better hardware, which is why Epic likely felt that mobile platforms (such as iOS and Android) came closer to giving Switch players a fair shake.

This change will presumably have no impact on custom cross-platform parties, so if you really want to team up with your PS4 or Xbox One buddies while you're on your Switch — or your iPhone or Galaxy S device, for that matter — you should still be able to do so. As far as we're able to tell, the fix is simply meant to keep Nintendo Switch owners from randomly matchmaking against players on more powerful machines.

Other things showing up in the latest Fortnite patch include a brand new single-person vehicle called the Baller (which looks an awful lot like a hamster wheel) and vending machines that no longer cost materials but, instead, cough up a free item and then self destruct. Finally, the vending machines are worthwhile.

Patch v8.10 should be available on our platform of choice right now, so if you haven't yet taken a look at what's new and different, update your client and go check it out.