Fortnite PS4 Cross-Play Live And Account Merging Options Are Coming

Sony has been resistant to allowing cross-play between PlayStation 4 and other consoles, even for the mega-hit Fortnite: Battle Royale. That changed this week with an open beta allowing cross-play functionality, but those who have already spent time unlocking rewards or buying Battle Passes might still find it frustrating to juggle separate accounts with their own loot. Thankfully, Epic has a few tools to smooth that over in the works.

According to a brief statement on Twitter, the studio is working on two tools. The first, coming within a few days, will allow players to unlink a Fortnite account from one console and then relink it to another account. The announcement didn't give word on whether this option would be unlimited. The more expansive tool, coming in November, will allow users to merge accounts and combine all of their Battle Royale purchases together.

The first seems like a stop-gap solution while waiting for the more complete one to come later this year. Still, it should reduce some of the issues with players who may have chosen one console over the other despite their actual preferences, simply because of the cross-play situation.

The lack of cross-play on PlayStation 4 led to some criticism from competitors like Microsoft and Nintendo, which used their social media accounts to poke fun at Sony's stubbornness. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called PS4 cross-play "inevitable," so it's likely the studio has been working on these tools since seeing the writing on the wall.

The timing of this is quite fortunate, as Season 6 of Battle Royale has begun with the release of a new update. It's brought with it new skins, map changes, a Battle Pass, and much more.