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Fortnite is coming to Switch, Nintendo announces

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 12 June 2018 19:35 BST
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Fortnite, the world's biggest game, is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch.

The game will soon arrive online, Nintendo announced. As with every other platform, the game will be available for free and can be downloaded through the Switch's online store.

Fortnite's arrival on Switch was the breakout news from the latest Nintendo Direct, during which the company shows off updates about existing games and reveals new ones. During the same broadcast – which came as the E3 conference opened – it also showed off new details about the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate, the new Pokemon games and more.

The release had been long rumoured to be coming to Switch, and the console was just about the only platform it hadn't yet arrived on. But it has now finally been released, and details about the game have been revealed.

This release of Fortnite will be relatively limited: it won't include the Save The World mode, only the main battle royale mode. But Nintendo did tease "new gameplay modes" in its announcement.

But it will have full connectivity with the other versions of the game, allowing players to play with every other platform. Xbox, PC, Mac and mobile players will all be able to play with those on the Switch.

The game had already come to mobile, with a release for Android and iOS. But this is the first time that it can be played on-the-go with genuine controls, since the existing mobile game relies players to swipe around on their screen to control the game.

Epic updates Fortnite every week, usually adding major new content releases as well as fixing bugs and other issues. It is likely that the Switch version of the game will be updated on the same schedule, to ensure that the cross-platform play continues to work.

Unlike rival battle royale game Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, Fortnite is free to download. But once it is downloaded, it charges for in-game purchases – asking players to regularly pay for access to a range of in-game improvements.

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