All your Fortnite questions answered: is it cross platform, free, split screen and on Steam?

Fortnite has changed a lot since it first hit our screens. These days it’s a worldwide phenomenon – even players at the World Cup do the dances when they score. But as more and more people play there’s still some confusion as to which version of the game you play for free and which you pay for, exactly how much it costs, and what platforms can you play on, with whom.

We’re going to clear all that up for you right now, right here.

Is Fortnite free?

The Battle Royale mode of Fortnite is free to download and play on Xbox One, PS4, PC and iOS devices like the Apple iPhone and iPad. It features one mode and one map, and has more than 3.4 million concurrent players and 125 million total. That’s the version of Fortnite that everyone is playing and talking about. You should get involved.

But there are few other things you need to know about Fortnite Battle Royale, with a few differences that may influence which format you to intend to play on. One of those is that Fortnite for PC is not available on Steam, so you’ll have to download it directly from Epic Games.

Is Fortnite Cross Platform? And can you play Split Screen?

Fortnite Battle Royale is not a split screen game, and officially it is not cross platform on PS4 between consoles, so you cannot play on PS4 with your friends on Xbox One. Sony has come under heavy criticism for not allowing this to happen, most notably because if you’ve played Fortnite with an account linked to a PS4, you can’t then use that account on any other console – like the Nintendo Switch.

But there is cross-platform play for PS4 owners, who have been able to play with PC, iOS and Mac owners since March.

On Xbox One, there is cross-platform play between Xbox One and PC, Nintendo Switch and iOS and Mac.

Sign up for the mobile iOS version of Fortnite Battle Royale began back in March, and is now available to anyone with a compatible device. Fortnite is currently not available on Android devices, and any adverts you see saying otherwise are trying to scam you.

There is cross-progression between PC and PS4 accounts if you link them via Epic Games’ site, but be warned you will lose progress when you first do so. There’s also no cross-progress between Fornite Battle Royale and the regular Fortnite game, not even cosmetically. For all intents and purposes they are two separate games.

Although Fortnite Battle Royale is free to download, if you’re playing on Xbox One you will have to pay for Xbox Live Gold to play online. However, if you’re playing on PlayStation 4 you don’t need to pay for PS Plus in order to play, so you really can play for free.

If you want to spend money in Fortnite Battle Royale you can buy the Battle Pass. This gives you new outfits, gliders, a pick axe, emotes and other items, all of which are cosmetic and will not affect gameplay in any way. The Battle Pass currently costs 950 V-Bucks, which is $9.50 or £7.99 in real money.

That’s everything you need to know about Fortnite Battle Royale. But to clear up any confusion, think as Fortnite as two games.

Because Fortnite: Save The World itself is not free. It’s a paid game but not nearly as popular as it’s Battle Royale spin-off. It’s currently quite expensive, and in our view, not worth buying at this point. Why? Because it will be going free-to-play sometime in 2018. Our advice is to download and play Fortnite Battle Royale for free now, and wait for the free release of Fortnite: Save The World later this year if you’re interested.

What is Fortnite?

Fortnite Battle Royale is a 100-player game in which you play solo or as teams, and parachute onto an island to fight other players until only one of you is left standing. To make it harder, the area in which you play is shrinking and you must remain in that area to survive, setting traps, scavenging weapons and building defenses. As the map shrinks, it pushes players together as time goes on, forcing confrontation.

Although there is only one map it’s a biggie and is constantly being tweaked. Developer Epic has just updated the map to add more locations, including a new city and mines and showing more love to the Western portion of the map in general. There are also Weekly Challenges for those that own the Battle Pass, rewarding constant play with unlocks such as items, emotes and more.

Fortnite: Save The World is a co-op survival game using all the same gear and guns as you’ll find in Fortnite Battle Royale, and charges the player with building defenses before facing down an onslaught of AI controlled zombies. Survive the night and you earn rewards such as new weapons, gear, traps and building materials to do it all again.

As Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale are still in development, Epic Games has promised but not committed to a series of improvements, from small technical tweaks to massive gameplay additions.

They include; improving weapon feel and accuracy, private matchmaking and the possibility of a new map. However, there are no solid plans yet for vehicles or a first person mode.

So that’s everything you need to know before getting stuck into Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale. We’ll see you in the trenches.

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