Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed the hit battle royale shooter Fortnite has “no plans currently” to come to Quest, although he hasn’t ruled it out entirely.

Here’s what Sweeney said in response to X user ‘TheoryDecrypt’:

It’s pretty clear by now Sweeney doesn’t think VR would work well with Fortnite, as he’s basically echoing a statement he made in 2022 in an interview with The Verge.

“Epic has no plans to build a VR version of Fortnite. Not out of any grand business strategy, but just because the thing that we do in Fortnite every day as gamers is run through an environment rapidly, and it’s the kind of experience that involves intense motion and doesn’t work as well in VR,” Sweeney told The Verge. “And so if we were to ever do anything in VR, it would have to be something that’s really custom tailored for the experience. And it’s not that we have any negative view of that. We just have 101 things to do.”

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The whole ‘barfing’ part of his latest statement though feels a little outdated in 2024, making it seem like Sweeney really hasn’t checked back into VR recently. In contrast to the early days of VR, modern games tend to include a number of comfort options as standard, such as variable snap-turn, FOV vignettes, ‘comfort’ cages, and the full gamut of locomotion options. Notably, any of these can be used to render “intense motion” into something stomachable for all, like Meta-owned studio BigBox VR does in its hit battle royale POPULATION: ONE.

Still, Sweeney may be right about VR not being a right fit for Fortnite, and it may be less about nerfing the game’s “intense” locomotion to level the playing field, and more about how VR gameplay is so different from flatscreen in the advantages and disadvantages it brings to the table.

For a VR player, it may be more difficult to rapidly build yourself out of a sticky situation like on flatscreen, but easier to do a host of other actions, like ducking and shooting around corners, going prone behind cover, and doing complex actions flatscreen users simply can’t, like physically catching an extra magazine your teammate throws you.

Whatever the case, we’re hoping Sweeney changes his tune on VR comfort, maybe by reading our handy VR comfort checklist which we use for game reviews.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • ViRGiN

    VR is domain of the small. There is no point of Fortnite going to VR, when they have several times more active users across all other platforms than all VR headsets ever sold combined.

    Valve not making Counter-Strike VR shows you that there is no point of even acknowledging VR as giants of industry.

    • Guest

      Yeah, this is it. No point in diverting precious resources to something still too small. Sweeney did speak highly of XR in the past, but that doesn't mean he's Zuckerberg levels.

  • They don't even have to make it for quest, they can just allow the UEVR driver to be used in public servers.

  • They don't even have to make it for the quest, they can just allow the UEVR driver to be used in public servers. Also, there are plenty of people that can handle the intensity. Why not allow vr players and flatscreen players to play together? At least give us the option.

    • Arno van Wingerde

      But then you might end up with a subpar experience and a lot of harsh criticisms on the internet – a lot of effort for little result.

    • ViRGiN

      Ah yes, let's whitelist camera manipulation so six players can enjoy their PCVR.

  • JakeDunnegan

    Actually, that's kind of too bad. I feel like Meta should reach out ot them b/c getting something as big as Fortnite on the platform could be a game changer.

    I mean, I would never play it – would likely make me throw up, but I could see it being pretty dang big.

    But, like many things in developing for VR – it's probably a decent sized risk w/out much of a chance to make your money back (at least right now).

  • He's right on this but eventually the Flat2VR dynamic will start to blur the line as well as prove out unexpected designs from 2D that work really well. Recent Tomb Raider dollhouse mode by Team Beef is a good example.

    We're entering a very innovative era for XR imo.

  • ApocalypseShadow

    Didn't want that game anyway. How about full, 4-5 hour games or experiences based on the Bullet Train Tech Demo Epic created or taking the Matrix Demo into VR and fleshing that out into a 4-5 hour campaign kicking, punching and shooting agents leading to a one on one fight with Agent Smith. I don't know. Put Unreal Tournament in VR. Get with Microsoft and put Gears 1 in VR.

    We don't need Fortnite in VR. We need something good and action packed. Lol. They made other games that would suit us just as well.