Playstation 4 and Xbox One players have long wanted to duke it out with each other and see who is better. This has been a dream for years, and it appears it has finally been answered by Epic Games.
In the recently released V8.10 patch for Fortnite, Epic Games revealed that one major change to the gameplay is Battle Royale Crossplay Matchmaking. This combines the pools from PS4 and Xbox One, but players need to opt-in in order to crossplay. Of course, you need to opt in or you can't play, as those who decide to opt-out will be limited to Playgrounds and Creative Mode.
That's not all, as Epic Games also combined the Switch and Mobile pools. Previously, Switch players needed to join with PS4 and Xbox One crossplay parties. With this, Epic hopes Switch and Mobile players will have better per-game experience on-average.
According to Epic Games, the main reason behind allowing crossplay is to unlock "optimization potential, allowing us to run more playlists during more hours of the day while supporting more data center locations."
Other gameplay changes introduced by the new patch include elimination credit being awarded to the last damager should self-elimination, logging out, and eliminations due to Storm damage occur. At present, the current threshold timer is 15 seconds for both logouts and self-eliminations and 5 seconds for Storm eliminations.
One interesting addition from the patch that is sure to attract players is the Baller, pictured below. This is a single seat vehicle similar to the one in Jurassic World, except filled with tech like the Grappler and Boost functionality. These allows players to swing through trees or pull themselves up cliffs. The vehicle can be found around pirate camp loot stashes and Expedition Outputs. It has 300 health, and while vulnerable to enemy fire, can protect the driver from damage.
Fortnite has been known for its dances and now with the patch, players can dance while holding a balloon. What more could you want? In terms of Treasure Maps, patch v.810 has lowered the odds of finding one on the floor from 0.53 percent to 0.27 percent. Treasure Map availability in chests has also lowered from 3.25 percent to 1.65 percent.
Vending Machines no longer have material cost but will be destroyed once an item is claimed. The patch has removed common and uncommon vending machines. The Mounted Turret has also been removed from the Legendary Vending Machine.
Full patch notes are available here.
