‘Fortnite’ on Nintendo Switch Goes Live, but Not for Epic Games Accounts Linked to PS4

“Fortnite” arrived on the Nintendo Switch immediately after its announcement on Tuesday at Nintendo’s media event at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018. So far, everything has been good news for existing “Fortnite” players, except those who are using their Epic Games accounts on a PlayStation 4 system.

“Fortnite: Battle Royale,” which is easily one of the most popular video games in the world today, is now available on all major gaming platforms, including the PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and iOS, while a port for the Android operating system is underway.

Most fans will be able to link their existing “Fortnite” profiles to Switch and without losing any in-game progress even when they have been playing on another console or the PC. However, it is a completely different story for PS4 players.

Shortly after “Fortnite” went live on Switch, PS4 players who tried to log in to their Epic Games accounts on their Switch consoles were unsuccessful and got a system message saying, “This ‘Fortnite’ account is associated with a platform which does not allow it to operate on Switch.”

Many players expressed that they are very much willing to stop using their PS4 and log out of their Epic Games” accounts from the said platform if it hinders them from enjoying a cross-platform access in playing “Fortnite.”

The recently found issue appears to be an extension of an existing issue that restricts Xbox One players from cross-playing with those who are using the PS4. Before the Switch port was released, PS4 players could only join matches with players on the PC and iOS.

These reports were later confirmed by Epic Games representative Nick Chester, who said that “Fortnite” on the Switch can cross-play with the “Xbox One, PC, Mac, and mobile.”

Meanwhile, Sony is yet to comment or respond to PS4 players’ complaints. But it can be recalled that the same problem emerged last year, when “Minecraft” finally supported cross-platform plays on the PC, Xbox One, and Switch but not on Sony consoles.

On the “Minecraft” cross-play issue, PlayStation global sales and marketing head Jim Ryan previously told Eurogamer, “We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe. Exposing what in many cases are children to external influences we have no ability to manage or look after, it's something we have to think about very carefully.”