Fortnite Is a PS5 Launch Game, Will Switch to Unreal Engine 5 Next Year

The battle goes on

by Stephen Tailby Wed 13th May 2020

Epic Games has just announced the existence of Unreal Engine 5, the next big leap in its gaming technology. If you've yet to see the PlayStation 5 gameplay demo, we suggest you do so -- it looks stunning. However, an offshoot of this news relates back to Epic's super-popular battle royale shooter, Fortnite. Amid all the info regarding the new engine, it's revealed that the game will be available to play on PS5 at launch.

Yes, Fortnite will be a PS5 launch game. You'll be able to pick up where you left off on PS4 and keep the fight going on the next-gen machine. However, don't expect a major leap in visuals straight away; Fortnite will still be running in Unreal Engine 4 when it hits PS5. Epic has said that it intends to upgrade the game to Unreal Engine 5 sometime in 2021, so the switch will happen within a year of PS5's release.

Are you happy to hear Fortnite will be there day one on PS5? Do your favourite dance emote in the comments section below.

[source polygon.com, via fortnitenews.com]

1
nessisonett
Wed 13th May 2020

Day 1 for me definitely 😍😍😍

2
Deadlyblack
Wed 13th May 2020

Boy, I can't wait to see what a new Unreal Tournament will look like on the new engine.
Oh wait... cries

Anyways, I honestly see environments, weapon effects and lighting being the biggest benefactor from the new engine in a game like Fortnite.

3
shonenjump86
Wed 13th May 2020

Never was much of Fortnite player but cool I guess.

4
carlos82
Wed 13th May 2020

Does that count? It's free and would have been playable anyway. I seriously doubt that anyone is buying a next gen console to play a free game that's playable on pretty much anything

5
daveofduncan
Wed 13th May 2020

I'd still rather play Apex

6
Richnj
Wed 13th May 2020

I'm just not all that interested. It's OK to play very sporadically.

I do however think that the fact it's swapping engines is a big thing. Plenty of games launch on old versions of the unreal engine. Ubi and 2K I know used older versions of the engine to launch titles, and sometimes you can see the age of the engine through the games. So the whole idea of a game that's already out in the wild is going to be swapping engines sounds crazy.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around a world where launched games can upgrade like that.

7
djlard
Wed 13th May 2020

I rather play some game, than battle royale... 😂

8
RRhapido
Wed 13th May 2020

Can't think of any mindless game other than Fortnite, have played it for a full year though, but still, it's the fact that it was designed to be addictive for the casual gamer that makes it a completely forgettable experience.