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The expanded toolkit from Epic Games lets developers connect players across platforms and storefronts.
Last year, we reported that Epic Games released Epic Online Services SDK 1.15 for developers, which introduced new crossplay features for PC. The team started by battle-testing the new features at scale across Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, and then rolled out a series of plug-and-play services to connect games and communities across platforms and stores.
Epic Games announced they're expanding the crossplay overlay with initial support for games on Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Sony PlayStation – the latest updates also enhances capabilities across all supported platforms.
In case you're not familiar with the toolkit, it helps developers to authenticate players, streamline friend management, and provide game invite and joinability functionality. Epic Games reports that the Epic Online Services crossplay overlay "now works seamlessly on Steam, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation, and Epic Games Store, enabling players to find their friends across the over 750 million Epic Games accounts, connect, and play."
Things included in the latest release:
- Consistent overlay UX. An out-of-the-box overlay that provides a familiar player experience on PC and console platforms.
- One combined friends list. Friend lists across platforms merge into one overlay, enabling players to see and invite their friends in one place.
- Frictionless cross-platform account creation. Players can start playing quickly using their existing Epic Games account or a new one that’s created for them, linked to their active native platform account.
- Integrated game invites. In-game, players can search and send game invites to friends across platforms, making connecting and playing together easy.
- Secure social experience on any platform. Implements the native platforms' trust, safety, and privacy guidelines, in addition to Epic's own trust and safety controls.
- Plug-and-play SDK. Each Epic Online Services toolset is self-contained, so developers can mix and match the services they want to implement, incorporate what they want, and leave the rest. Crossplay tools are no different.
Learn more about the latest release here. In case you missed it, Epic Games has recently released August 2023's featured free Unreal Engine Marketplace content, featuring four amazing asset packs for creating various 3D environments and a third-person interaction template. Learn more here.
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