Fortnite Finally Available In Early Access On PC, PS4, And Xbox One

After years in development, Fortnite--the tower defense/survival game hybrid from Gears of War and Unreal Tournament creator Epic Games--is finally ready to launch, albeit in Early Access. It's available now on PC/Mac, PS4, and Xbox One.

Although not scheduled to release in full as a free-to-play game until sometime in 2018, this is a paid version of Early Access. It follows a long series of beta and alpha tests, but if you're interested in playing now, you'll have to purchase at least the $40 standard version of Fortnite. This includes access to the game and various bonuses, such as loot packs and additional customization options. More expensive versions of the game--including the Deluxe ($60), Super Deluxe ($80), and Limited ($150) editions--come with additional bonuses, like weapon packs, additional hero characters, and even bonus copies of the base game to share with friends.

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Not unlike Orcs Must Die, Fortnite puts you in a third-person action take on tower defense. However, Fortnite also features an expansive building system, letting you create elaborate series of traps and structures to help defend and fight off waves of enemies. You can get a glimpse of what it's like in the launch trailer above.

Fortnite was first revealed way back in December 2011, when Cliff Bleszinski was still working at Epic. It was shown to be a cartoony survival game where you'd explore and scavenge, elements which remain a part of Fortnite all these years later.

The Early Access version of Fortnite actually launched recently for some players who pre-ordered, but there have been technical issues affecting its servers. This has resulted in some downtime as Epic works to resolve the situation.

Below you'll find Fortnite's system requirements and recommended specs for those looking to play on PC or Mac.

Fortnite Recommended System Requirements

• GPU: Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 equivalent DX11 GPU
• VRAM: 2 GB
• CPU: Core i5 2.8 Ghz
• RAM: 8 GB
• OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit

Minimum System Requirements:

• GPU: Intel HD 4000
• CPU: Core i3 2.4 Ghz
• RAM: 4 GB
• OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit + Mac OSX Sierra