OnePlus announced that Fortnite is now playable on the OnePlus 8 at 90 frames per second, but the feature may not be what fans have expected. The partnership between OnePlus and Epic Games isn't the first time Fortnite has been part of a big mobile deal as an exclusive Fortnite skin was available on Samsung devices in 2018.
On Twitter, OnePlus announced that its new OnePlus 8 is now the only phone to offer Fortnite at 90FPS. This provides a "new level of smoothness in mobile gaming," said the tweet. However, a report by GameSpot has revealed that by switching the 90FPS mode on in the game, it lowers the game's graphics settings to low.
The frame rate does allow the game to look smooth on the phone, but in screenshots, Fortnite looks noticeably worse as details that once looked brilliant now look blurry. The outline of the Fortnite character's skin is full of jagged edges and the trees look like large, green blobs that have been drawn over with highlighter ink. The items dropped on the ground are also missing the details that fans may expect.
It's not unexciting that the OnePlus 8 supports Fortnite at 90FPS as it makes the smartphone the only device that can offer it. Epic Games has confirmed that Fortnite will be a PS5 and Xbox Series X launch title and the Xbox Series X does support up to 120FPS, but it's unclear if the consoles will have a 90FPS option for the game. It's difficult to see 90FPS being much of an important feature to players if the game will also have to be switched to the low graphics option on other devices.
However, what may be more important in this announcement is the partnership between OnePlus and Epic Games. OnePlus has said that Fortnite 90FPS follows 10 months of working with Epic Games on a custom Fortnite build. This could mean that the next OnePlus phone is well-positioned to support Unreal Engine 5 when it is released in 2021. The game engine will support mobile devices but OnePlus may get something that other smartphone makers don't.
There have been many great-looking mobile games such as The Room: Old Sins, Alto's Odyssey, and Botanicula. However, if OnePlus and Epic Games are able to work together to support games that look as good as the Unreal Engine 5 demo did on PS5 but on a smartphone, that could really get people buying that mobile device.
Fortnite is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One and will be available for Xbox Series X and PS5 in the Fall.
Source: GameSpot