PlayStation has joined Fortnite’s shared wallet system, allowing you to access and spend V-Bucks you’ve purchased on Sony’s consoles through other platforms.
Announced by Fortnite developer Epic Games, the battle royale’s shared wallet feature has hit PlayStation consoles as part of its 20.40 update. Previously, any funds purchased in Fortnite through a PS5 or PS4 were only available to be spent on Sony’s systems. But now they will now be available to spend on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Android devices, and the PC version of the game.
As a result, the Nintendo Switch remains the only console capable of running Fortnite but does not support the shared wallet feature. While V-Bucks earned through the game’s Battle Pass will automatically transfer between all platforms, those purchased from Fortnite’s in-game store can only be shared on consoles that use the Shared Wallet.
Using the function is easy. Simply link your PlayStation account to your Epic login and you can transfer funds to any other platform also linked to your Epic account.
It’s pretty handy too. This saves you from having to rely on a single platform to manage your in-game funds and avoids the unfortunate situation where tiny amounts of V-Bucks end up spread across multiple systems. Given the popularity of the feature, we wouldn’t be surprised if other cross-platform live-service titles started rolling out a similar feature down the line.
A sign of the times
Sony’s decision to roll out Fortnite’s shared wallet system for PlayStation consoles is telling. The tech giant has been slow to embrace cross-platform functionality in the past, even going so far as to block cross-play for Fortnite when it was first introduced on Xbox and Nintendo platforms.
Sony opening its doors even further to cross-play signals a change of heart for the tech giant. It’s been less protective of the PlayStation ecosystem in recent years, following in Microsoft’s footsteps to bring several of its major first-party titles to PC, including 2018’s God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding. This Shared Wallet update is the latest instance of Sony embracing content and monetization models that go beyond traditional console-focused thinking.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney echoed a similar sentiment on Twitter“Another big move from Sony, opening up cross-platform currency support in Fortnite.
“PlayStation has played a huge role in the social gaming revolution that fuels the growth of the Metaverse as a new entertainment medium.”