Fortnite recently launched Epic Parties, further integrating social features across its games, store, and mobile apps. Users can now form voice parties across devices, maintaining calls even while engaging in different activities.
Epic Parties is currently available in Fortnite, on the PC and mobile Epic Games Store, and in the Epic Games app. Users can invite friends to join a party or enter parties created by friends. When there is an existing text group chat, the interface provides a "Start Party" button to directly invite group members to switch to voice chat.
This feature also integrates with Fortnite's squad system. If party friends are playing Fortnite, users who launch the game afterward will automatically join the same lobby when conditions allow. If the chat device differs from the device running the game, the system will prompt users to transfer the call to avoid voice interruptions.
Epic Parties offers mute, block, and report features. If users believe a party member has violated the Community Code of Conduct, they can also submit a voice report to Epic.
Epic states that its social features share the same goal as Unreal Engine 6: to establish an open ecosystem where users' social connections and in-game purchases can carry over across different games. As currently planned, social avatars from Fortnite will be integrated into other areas of the Epic ecosystem later this year.
Rocket League plans to integrate Epic Parties when it transitions to Unreal Engine 6 "next year." Epic also hopes to open these social features to all developers by 2027, covering different platforms, stores, and engines; third-party developers can decide whether to adopt them.