Fortnite: How to turn off crossplay on PlayStation and Xbox

Fortnite: How to turn off crossplay on PlayStation and Xbox
Asmir Pekmic Updated on by

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Crossplay is one of the best things about Fortnite. Since the videogame is available on nearly every gaming system, this feature is a must-have. It allows players to team up with their friends who play on other systems, but it also puts everyone in crossplay lobbies. Since this is not everyone’s cup of tea, many players wonder how to turn off Fortnite crossplay on PlayStation and Xbox.

By default, everyone is put into crossplay lobbies. However, if you’d like to change this, our guide will show you how. Additionally, we’ll also explain why you should and shouldn’t use this Fortnite feature. While it’s amazing, it comes with a couple of big disadvantages, mostly for console players.

Can I turn off Fortnite crossplay on PlayStation?

You can easily turn off Fortnite crossplay on PlayStation. To do this, you need to follow a couple of easy steps that we provided below. Turning off the feature is so easy that you can do it directly from the game settings.

If you’re a PlayStation player and don’t want to be put into PC lobbies anymore, here’s what you need to do:

  • Launch Fortnite
  • Press the Start/Options button to open the Main Menu
  • Go to Settings
  • Open the Account & Privacy tab
  • Scroll down to the Gameplay Privacy section
  • Find Allow Cross Platform Play and set it to Off

Once you save your settings, crossplay will be turned off on your PlayStation, and you won’t be playing against PC players anymore. In fact, you won’t be matched up against Xbox players either, and the same goes for mobile and Nintendo Switch players.

Fortnite crossplay on PlayStation
Image taken by VideoGamer
✓ Asmir’s Advice

You shouldn’t turn off Fortnite crossplay

If you’re thinking about turning off Fortnite crossplay, you should think twice before you do it. Doing this will result in long queue times, and your experience won’t be perfect. Fortunately, you can turn it back on at any time.

Once you do this, you will receive a new message when you try to get into a match. Simply confirm the message by pressing the X button, and you’ll queue up for a match.

It’s important to note that this process will not affect your cross-progression. You will still be able to share your cosmetic items and progress with other platforms. However, turning off Fortnite crossplay comes with a big disadvantage, and we’ll cover that later in the article.

How to turn off Fortnite crossplay on Xbox?

It is possible to disable Fortnite crossplay on Xbox gaming consoles as well. Microsoft allows its players to turn off this feature for every game, which is very useful if you want to avoid PC lobbies. The entire process is very easy and takes only a minute.

To turn off crossplay on Xbox, please follow these steps:

  • Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide
  • Go to Profile & System > Settings > Account
  • Select Privacy & online safety > Xbox privacy > View details and customize > Communication & multiplayer
  • Find You can join cross-network play
  • Set this to Block
Disabling crossplay on Xbox
Image by VideoGamer

Changing this setting will affect all the videogames you play on Xbox, not just Fortnite. Due to this, don’t forget to turn crossplay back on in case you want it enabled in other games. Like on PlayStation, you can enable or disable this option whenever you’d like.

Disable Fortnite crossplay on Nintendo Switch and mobile

If you play Fortnite on a mobile phone or Nintendo Switch, then unfortunately, you cannot disable crossplay. These platforms are not very popular, and disabling them would likely result in nearly infinite queue times. It’s also not possible to disable the feature on a PC.

Considering that Nintendo Switch and mobile players have a massive disadvantage against both console and PC players, we’re hoping that Epic Games will do something about this in the future.

You should not disable Fortnite crossplay

While most players agree that mixing players with different gaming systems and input devices isn’t a great idea, it’s somewhat necessary. By disabling Fortnite crossplay, you will avoid getting PC players in your lobbies. However, it also comes with some disadvantages. Primarily, your queue times will be much longer, which is why we don’t recommend you turn off the functionality.

Fortnite is still very popular in 2023. It keeps breaking records and bringing in new players. In fact, the videogame set the record for the most daily players in November 2023. This is impressive, especially considering that Fortnite is in its seventh year. Despite this, crossplay is still necessary, and we’ll explain why.

Over the past few months, Fortnite has had an average of 2 million concurrent players. While this number is astonishing, it’s important to note that approximately 50% of players are in Fortnite Creative. The rest is split among core modes, different regions, and more.

Fortnite Zero Build lobby
Image taken by VideoGamer

Let’s dive into math!

  • On average, 50% of players play core modes, which comes down to 1 million
  • Players are further split among Battle Royale and Zero Build mode, with each having Ranked and casual playlists
  • Each of these 4 modes also has multiple playlists, from Solo to Squads
  • Furthermore, you will only be matched up with players from your region

To further clarify, if you want to play Zero Build Ranked mode in Duos, you will have approximately 50,000 other players who are interested in playing the same mode during Fortnite’s peak hours. With eight different server regions, this number goes down to approximately 6,250 players per region. Considering that Fortnite has skill-based matchmaking, this reduces the potential player pool to fewer than 1,000 players. Additionally, many of them will already be in the game, meaning they are not available for another match.

If you disable Fortnite crossplay, you will reduce your potential opponents to under 250, which is still more than enough for one lobby, right? Well, not really. Once you disable crossplay, you will only be matched up against other players who have crossplay disabled.

Keep in mind that these are all averages, and in the example above, we took into account Fortnite’s peak hours. The math is completely different if you get on when there are fewer players online. Furthermore, Duos is the most popular playlist in the game. If you enjoy playing Trios, which is the least popular playlist, the number of potential lobbies halves.

Many other factors contribute to matchmaking times in Fortnite. Due to this, we don’t recommend you disabling crossplay. If you do so, you will have much longer queue times, and in many cases, your lobbies will be full of bots.

Why you should disable crossplay in Fortnite

If you don’t mind long queue times and enjoy playing against bots, you should turn off crossplay in Fortnite. However, before you do it, you should consider joining Fortnite bot lobbies, in case you want to complete challenges more easily.

Once you disable the feature, you won’t encounter any PC players, which is the main reason why Fortnite players prefer console-only lobbies. Unfortunately, this also means that you won’t be matched up against opposing consoles. If you are on PlayStation, for example, you won’t see any Xbox players in your lobbies, and vice versa.

While queue times may be long, you should try the feature out for a couple of games and see how you like it. Fortunately, it is possible to enable and disable Fortnite crossplay with just a couple of quick steps, so it doesn’t hurt to try it out.

Disabling Fortnite crossplay – FAQ

Is it possible to disable Fortnite crossplay on PlayStation and Xbox?

Yes, you can disable crossplay in Fortnite on both PlayStation and Xbox. For PlayStation, you can do it straight from the in-game settings. If you own an Xbox, you’ll have to go into its privacy settings to disable the feature.

What’s the main disadvantage of disabling Fortnite crossplay?

If you turn off Fortnite crossplay, your queue times will be much longer. With crossplay lobbies, you usually wait up to a minute to get into a lobby. However, the situation is much difference once you disable mixed lobbies.

Will I play against bots if I disable crossplay?

It’s unlikely that you will meet 99 other players who have crossplay disabled, which means that you’ll encounter many bots. While this is great for completing challenges and getting victories, it’s not very challenging.

Is it possible to disable Fortnite crossplay on mobile or Nintendo Switch?

Unfortunately, you cannot disable crossplay on Nintendo Switch or mobile phones. This feature is only available to console players, meaning that PC players cannot use it either.