Epic Games made some waves earlier this year when they officially succeeded in allowing Fortnite players across all platforms to play with one another. Cross-play has been a highly requested feature in recent years, with gamers wanting to play with their friend who chose a different platform.

That said, Epic has announced that they will be making the cross-play technology used to accomplish such a feat free for all developers to use. “At Epic, our goal is to help game developers succeed,” the Epic Games staff said in a post on the Unreal website. “Throughout 2019, we’ll be launching a large set of cross-platform game services originally built for Fortnite, and battle-tested with 200,000,000 players across 7 platforms.”

“These services will be free for all developers, and will be open to all engines, all platforms, and all stores,” they continued. “As a developer, you’re free to choose mix-and-match solutions from Epic and others as you wish.” The developer also outlined what their plans are so far regarding releasing the cross-play technology. Here are the “first steps:”

Epic’s Online Services

The service launch will begin with a C SDK encapsulating our online services, together with Unreal Engine and Unity integrations. We’ll start with a core set of features and expand over time. Specifically:

• Cross-Platform Login, Friends, Presence, Profile, and Entitlements (coming Q2-Q3 2019 to PC, other platforms throughout 2019): Provides the core functionality for persistently recognizing players across multiple sessions and devices; identifying friends; and managing free and paid item entitlements. This will support all 7 major platforms (PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch) to the full extent each platform allows per-title.
• PC/Mac Overlay API (coming Q3 2019): Provides a user interface for login, friends, and other features in a game-agnostic, engine-agnostic way.
• Cross-Platform Voice Comms (coming Q3 2019 to all platforms): Epic is building a new in-game voice communications service supporting all platforms, all stores, and all engines, which will be available for free. (For developers needing an immediately-available voice solution, check out Discord, Vivox, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, and Mumble.)
• Cross-Platform Parties and Matchmaking (coming Q3-4 2019 to all platforms)
• Cross-Platform Data Storage, Cloud-Saved Games (coming Q2 2019)
• Cross-Platform Achievements and Trophies (coming Q3 2019)

Fortnite may sit atop the cross-play mountain as of now, but we can only imagine what is to come when all developers get their hands on Epic’s technology. Needless to say, 2019 is going to be quite the year for gaming. Keep it tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers as this story develops, and for other gaming goodness going on right now, check out the following:

• China May Ban Fortnite, PUBG Following Ethics Committee Review (RUMOR)
• Anthem PvP Might Be A Possibility Post Launch, Says BioWare
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate ‘Spectacled Spirit’ Event Revealed

What say you, gamers? Which developers are you hoping to see take advantage of the cross-play tech from Epic Games? Sound off in the comments section below, and be sure to follow DFTG on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment news 24/7!