Fortnite recently left fans confused with how its in-game invites work, with players wondering whether a glitch allowed friends to join creative mode games despite them setting their status to private. Following the confusion, Epic Games clarifies that the private status system is working as intended and that friends still being able to join in creative mode is in fact, not a bug.
The battle royale game behemoth’s response clears the air about how private status should function in-game. Players’ ability to join private-status friends mid-creative mode is an intended function and not a bug as many have assumed. Upon a fan’s request to “fix” the supposed glitch, the developer explains that friends should be able to join you in creative mode, regardless of your private status.
“This is not a glitch,” Epic clarifies. “You need to mark yourself as ‘away’ so your friends can’t join your private games.” In other words, it sounds like marking yourself as private doesn’t actually translate into what most of us would think it means. You have to instead set your status to ‘away’ so that others on your friends list can’t hop in-game with you when you’d rather they not.
Understandably, the news has left us all a bit confused. In most games, setting your status to private doesn’t just mean that others can’t join, but it can also mean that you altogether don’t appear as available in friend lists. The mind-boggling function of Fortnite’s private status isn’t the shooter’s only controversial affair, though.
Players are now also reporting that setting your status to ‘away’ has a similar outcome, as friends can allegedly still join you. Epic has yet to respond to these new claims or verify them, but various fans are reporting that both an away and private status currently function the same way in-game as simply being online.
While you wait for more news from Epic, you can check out our overview of the new Fortnite map to better understand where to find characters as well as the best loot. Alternatively, you can browse through our roundup of the greatest Fortnite weapons to snag yourself a quicker victory royale.
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