Fortnite doesn’t natively help VR headsets, and though rumors have been floating round just lately that allege the favored battle royale shooter might finally embody a VR mode, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny says it’s not taking place.
Update (December ninth, 2022): In an interview with Tim Sweeny from The Verge, the Epic Games CEO made it clear that the corporate has “no plans” for a VR supported model of Fortnite. According to Sweeny, it simply wouldn’t work nicely:
“The thing that we do in Fortnite every day as gamers is run through an environment rapidly, and it’s the kind of experience that involves intense motion and doesn’t work as well in VR,” Sween instructed The Verge.
This comes as stark distinction to earlier rumors, which alleged that code present in latest updates included point out of Oculus. The rumor, detailed beneath, was most certainly a case of leftover residue from Unreal Engine 5 growth. The authentic article follows beneath:
Original Article (August thirtieth, 2022): Update 21.50, the sport’s fifth and closing replace to Season 3, is rolling out immediately, and it appears information miner and itinerant Fortnite leaker HYPEX has gotten a glance beneath the hood, sustaining that Epic has added “stuff related to Oculus.”
We haven’t been in a position to independently confirm this, nonetheless HYPEX, who is thought in the neighborhood as a dependable leaker, surmises this might level to VR help being added in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later.
Epic added stuff associated to Oculus (Quest, Quest 2 & Mobile) in immediately’s replace. Most seemingly correct VR help sooner or later..
— HYPEX (@HYPEX) August 30, 2022
If Fortnite can handle the go native on the Quest platform like HYPEX’s tweet suggests, it’s a reasonably large deal. Fortnite on Quest 2 wouldn’t solely stand an opportunity at eclipsing its largest VR-supported rivals Roblox and Minecraft, but in addition provide up competitors to multiplayer VR experiences and video games like Meta’s Horizon platform, Rec Room, VRChat, and Population: One (2020). In quick, Fortnite getting on Quest may make it one of the common VR video games there in a single day.
Of course, there’s the matter of shoehorning the large-scale multiplayer shooter onto Quest 2’s modest Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, which is a problem in its personal proper. Still, Epic Games has been a giant proponent of VR for the reason that launch the unique Oculus Rift in 2016, having pioneered VR help for its Unreal Engine while placing out one of many slickest VR arcade shooters to today, Robo Recall (2016). It mainly wrote the ebook on optimizing video games for VR headsets, and is a founding member of the OpenXR initiative, an open normal for VR/AR app growth.
In more moderen years nonetheless, the corporate has targeted on constructing its personal Epic Games Store distribution channel and pushing Fortnite well past its authentic conception level as a free battle royale shooter. It now contains a number of recreation modes, a artistic sandbox mode, and regularly hosts live events similar to concert events and particular in-game occasions.
Earlier this yr Epic secured a $2 billion investment to stoke its metaverse ambitions, one thing CEO and founding father of Epic Tim Sweeney mentioned on the time would “accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.”