On June 12, Nintendo revealed that Fortnite: Battle Royale was coming to the Switch that very same day, giving players yet another platform on which to play the biggest game in the world. It appears to have been a massive success for developer and publisher Epic Games, as the game has already amassed more than 2 million downloads.
Speaking to Polygon, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé revealed that Fortnite managed to accomplish the feat in less than 24 hours, and said it “speaks to the power of the franchise, the engagement of [Nintendo’s] players and the resonance of being able to play it anytime, anywhere.”
Players can currently compete in Fortnite: Battle Royale on iOS as well, but the Switch offers a chance to be more competitive thanks to its traditional control scheme. The game is also scheduled to come to Android devices later this summer, making it available on pretty much everything except Amazon Alexa.
It’s a strategy that contrasts with PUBG Corporation and Bluehole’s approach for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which is currently only available on Xbox One, PC, iOS and Android. The games don’t support cross-platform play, and both the Xbox One and PC versions are paid. PUBG Mobile, meanwhile, is free and supported with microtransactions.
Not everyone is playing nice with Nintendo on Fortnite, however. Those who previously played the game on PlayStation 4 were alerted upon booting up the Nintendo Switch version that their accounts were incompatible, and they would not only be separated from PlayStation 4 players, but would have to create new accounts if they wished to continue on Switch. Microsoft has taken the opposite approach with Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, releasing Minecraft on the system and even offering Xbox achievements in the game.
Hopefully, Sony reverses course and allows all Fortnite players to connect together. We know it’s technically possible, as Xbox One and PlayStation 4 crossplay was enabled accidentally in September.
Fortnite currently has more than 125 million players across its various platforms. It shows no signs of stopping, and with the quick content updates and additions Epic Games has offered over the last few months, it certainly deserves its success — even if we weren’t too keen on it.
