Fortnite players can now voice chat with friends no matter which device or Epic app they’re using, according to a blog post on Epic Games’ latest social update.
The feature, called Epic Parties, connects voice chat across Fortnite on all supported platforms, the Epic Games Store (accessible via epicgames.com on PC, Mac, iOS and Android), and the standalone Epic Games app on iOS and Android. The update effectively erases the walls that previously separated voice communication by platform, letting a PC player, a console player, and a mobile player talk in the same party regardless of where each of them is logged in.
Epic Parties adds four core capabilities. Players in a party on PC can talk with friends on console and with others using Epic’s mobile apps, and mobile users can background the app to keep a conversation running while doing something else on their phone. Voice chat can also follow a player between devices: someone chatting from the PC Launcher or a mobile app will see an option to transfer that audio when they launch Fortnite, avoiding a dropped call. On PC, players can minimize the Epic Games Launcher and keep talking with their party while playing an entirely different game purchased through the Epic Games Store. And when a friend accepts a party invite, they’re automatically placed into the same Fortnite Lobby once they open the game, removing a manual step that previously required coordinating who joins whom.
To use Epic Parties, Players simply open the Friends list from the Epic Games Launcher, Fortnite or the Epic mobile apps, then select “Invite to Party” for an online friend, or “Join” if that friend is already in an active party chat. Once the invite is accepted, voice chat begins immediately. Epic also built in a shortcut for existing group text chats: hitting “Start Party” inside a chat window converts the whole group into a voice chat without additional invites.
Moderation tools carry over from Epic’s existing systems. Players can mute, block and report others during voice chat, and Epic added the ability to submit a voice report directly within Epic Parties if a player suspects a violation of the company’s Community Rules.
Epic frames the release as part of a broader push toward a unified social layer that spans its entire ecosystem, tying the effort to Unreal Engine 6’s ambitions. The company said its social features are meant to let a player’s connections and purchases follow them from game to game, rather than resetting with each new title — and that today’s Epic Parties launch marks an early step in that direction, not the finished product.
More changes are on the way. Later this year, Epic plans to extend social avatars beyond Fortnite, allowing friends and party members to see a player’s avatar in other contexts across the ecosystem. Rocket League is next in line, with the cross-ecosystem social features arriving alongside that game’s shift to Unreal Engine 6 sometime next year. Epic said it is also working with outside developers to bring the same social infrastructure to other platforms, storefronts and engines by 2027, an effort that would extend far beyond Epic’s own titles if realized on that timeline.
For now, the update is live across Fortnite, the Epic Games Launcher and Epic’s mobile apps, giving players a single, persistent way to stay connected with friends regardless of what device or app they’re using at any given moment.