All posts tagged: Fortnite

Fortnite is getting Unity games

Fortnite is getting Unity games

Published by Webster

Epic Games is teaming up with arguably its biggest game development rival, Unity, to bring games made using Unity’s engine into Fortnite. The change will mean that Unity games could sit alongside Epic’s own suite of experiences as well as those created by third-party developers using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite — and it opens the door for significantly more games to be available to play within Fortnite. “Just like the early days of the web, we believe that companies need to work together in order to build the open metaverse in a way that’s interoperable and fair,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says in a statement. “Working alongside Unity we’re helping developers build fun games, reach bigger audiences, and find success.” The change represents an important step in Epic’s long-running vision of turning Fortnite into an open metaverse that’s a big 3D social space with a huge number of experiences to participate in with your friends. Epic has been marching down this path for years with Fortnite itself by putting an increased focus on …

Fortnite is coming to the Xbox PC store

Fortnite is coming to the Xbox PC store

Published by Webster

Fortnite is going to be available on the Xbox on PC app beginning November 18th. Right now on PC, you have to launch the game from the Epic Games Launcher, but if you prefer the Xbox on PC app, that’s going to be an option. The game is also joining the Xbox Play Anywhere program, meaning “your progress and purchases will seamlessly follow you across Xbox consoles, PC, and supported gaming handhelds,” Microsoft says. That could make it easier to play on Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, if you want to get in some drops on one of the handhelds. On November 18th, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will get Epic’s Fortnite Crew subscription as an additional perk, too. With a Crew subscription, you get a new skin and 1,000 V-Bucks every month as well as access to all of Fortnite’s various battle passes so you can earn items to use in the game’s many modes. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong …

Mission: Impossible and Fortnite just both made huge comebacks

Mission: Impossible and Fortnite just both made huge comebacks

Published by Webster

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 84, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Mubi and Around The Horn and millennial tech, moving all my journals to Diarly, trying out Matt D’Avella’s workout routine, catching up on Clarkson’s Farm, wishing desperately that Philly Justice was a real show, watching a lot of Helper Cars with my toddler, testing the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, dusting off my Fortnite skills, and enjoying this unbelievably deep dive into the first Star Wars movie. I also have for you a new blockbuster movie, an old-new blockbuster mobile game, a new season of one of my all-time favorite shows, a cheap set-top box worth a look, and much more. Shockingly busy week! Let’s dig in. (As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you playing / reading / listening to / watching …

Fortnite is back on US iPhones again

Fortnite is back on US iPhones again

Published by Webster

Apple kicked Fortnite off the App Store nearly five years ago after Epic Games added its own in-app payment system to the game, which violated Apple’s rules. But after a major court ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that forced Apple to not take fees from purchases made outside of apps, the game is available to play on US iPhones once again. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Shortly after the big ruling hit, CEO Tim Sweeney said that Epic planned to bring back Fortnite to iOS in the US. He also made a “peace proposal:” “If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic.“ Late last week, Epic said that Apple had blocked Fortnite’s return to the App Store, and the game also became unavailable on other alternative app stores in the EU. However, Apple said that it had “asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the …

Hollywood actors’ union sues Epic Games over Darth Vader’s AI voice in Fortnite: ‘Refused to bargain in good faith’

Hollywood actors’ union sues Epic Games over Darth Vader’s AI voice in Fortnite: ‘Refused to bargain in good faith’

Published by Parlour News

In a case that feels straight out of sci-fi satire, the voice of Darth Vader has landed at the centre of a real-world legal battle involving AI, actors’ rights, and one of the most iconic villains in cinematic history. Darth Vader in Star Wars The Hollywood actors’ union, Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists or the SAG-AFTRA, has filed an unfair labour practice charge against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games, after the company allegedly used AI to replicate Darth Vader’s voice in the popular online game Fortnite, without notifying the union or the original performers. What’s happening?  Fortnite recently added a fully voiced Darth Vader character to the game. But this version doesn’t rely on the familiar timbre shaped by years of actors’ performances. Instead, it uses conversational AI, allowing players to interact with the Sith Lord in real time. Once recruited to a team, Vader can answer player questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire, or even in-game tactics. The move, however, has stirred up more …

SAG-AFTRA files complaint over Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader

SAG-AFTRA files complaint over Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader

Published by Webster

SAG-AFTRA wrote in a statement that it understands its members and members’ estates wish to use AI technology in any way they choose. “However,” SAG-AFTRA’s statement continued, “we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.” While the AI “revolution” slowly replaces human workers with oftentimes inferior products, and despite some members’ distaste for the practice, SAG-AFTRA has embraced the idea of using AI trained to replicate an actor’s performance. It has established contracts and partnerships with several AI companies with the idea being members can use this technology with specific contract-guaranteed protections. So the act of using an AI to replace Darth Vader’s voice performers (both the late James Earl Jones and those brought in after his death to match his performance) isn’t what SAG-AFTRA is objecting to. Rather, it’s the fact that this was done without Epic Games sitting down with SAG-AFTRA at …

Epic Games Asks Court to Force Apple to Approve Fortnite on US Store

Epic Games Asks Court to Force Apple to Approve Fortnite on US Store

Published by Webster

Epic Games asked a court to force Apple to approve access to the hit game Fortnite in the US App Store, the latest tussle in a long-running feud over Apple’s control of game distribution revenue. The game developer earlier said that Apple “blocked” its latest Fortnite app submission so that it can’t be released in the US or on the third-party Epic Games Store in the EU. “Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it,” according to a post on its X account.  An Apple spokesperson responded later on Friday to the X post, saying that the company “did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces” in the EU. Apple said it asked the game company’s European division, Epic Sweden, to “resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies.” Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite …

Epic asks judge to make Apple let Fortnite back on the US App Store

Epic asks judge to make Apple let Fortnite back on the US App Store

Published by Webster

Epic is asking District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order Apple to review — and approve if compliant with Apple’s guidelines — Epic’s submission of Fortnite to the US App Store in a new court filing. The company argues in the document that Apple is once again in contempt of the judge’s April order restricting it from rejecting apps over their use of outside payment links. In a letter from Apple that Epic shared late Friday, Apple writes that it won’t “take action on the Fortnite app submission until after the Ninth Circuit rules on our pending request for a partial stay of the new injunction.” Epic claims the delay is retaliation for its legal fight with the company, and notes in its filing that Apple “expressly and repeatedly” told it and the court that it would approve Fortnite if the app complied with Apple’s guidelines, which it insists its current submission does. Epic claimed that was because it can’t release in the EU because of Apple’s decision to block its US submission. Apple said …

SAG-AFTRA files complaint over Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader

Fortnite is using AI to let you chat with James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader

Published by Webster

Though Darth Vader has previously appeared as an NPC (and a battle pass skin) in Fortnite, Epic Games announced today that the character’s latest outing will be a bit different thanks to the use of AI. After finding and defeating Vader on the map, players can recruit him onto their teams and speak directly with him using Fortnite’s in-game audio chat functionality. And Vader will respond in an AI recreation of James Earl Jones’ iconic voice whose answers vary depending on what players. Per a FAQ about the interactive feature, Epic says that Vader’s answers will be based on audio recordings of player’s voices that are sent directly to Gemini. Player audio and transcriptions of their voices will not be stored, though Epic will have access to transcriptions of Vader’s responses for instances in which players report what the character says. The company also says that it will “not use any of your interactions with Darth Vader to train AI models.” Additionally, players under the age of 13 or their country’s age of digital consent …

Apple blocks Fortnite’s App Store return as downloads fail in Europe

Apple blocks Fortnite’s App Store return as downloads fail in Europe

Published by Webster

Fortnite maker Epic Games has announced that Apple has blocked the game’s return to iOS. Following the rejection, Fortnite is no longer available on iPhones and iPads even in the European Union, where it had previously been available to download through the Epic Games Store. “Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union,” the company posted on the official Fortnite X account. “Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.” The Verge has confirmed that the game is no longer available to download on iOS from the Epic Games Store or the alternative marketplace AltStore PAL in the EU, where it had previously been available. It’s not yet clear if Apple blocked the game’s availability through those stores, or if Epic itself chose to make it unavailable. We’ve reached out to both Apple and Epic for comment. This week Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced that the company had pulled its previous …