Epic Games said it will release its cross-platform play services, including matchmaking, cloud saves, voice chat and game achievements, all built on Fortnite, for free in 2019.
Epic Games will make it easier for developers to build cross-platform play into their games next year, as the company plans to launch “a large set of cross-platform game services” built for Fortnite and “battle-tested” by more than 200 million players. That includes services like cross-platform matchmaking, cloud saves, voice chat, and game achievements.
Launching over the course of 2019, these will be “free for all developers, and will be open to all engines, all platforms, and all stores,” Epic said on the Unreal Engine website. They’ll roll out in waves throughout the year.
It’s a major effort on Epic’s part, and, if broadly adopted, it could further cross-platform play support across a variety of games.
Epic outlined how and when those features will roll out to other developers:
Cross-Platform Login, Friends, Presence, Profile, and Entitlements (coming Q2-Q3 2019 to PC, other platforms throughout 2019): Provides the core functionality for persistently recognizing players across multiple sessions and devices; identifying friends; and managing free and paid item entitlements.
