Do you need Xbox Live to play Fortnite?: Everything players should know

Fortnite is arguably the most popular free-to-play battle royale title in the world. Playing online on Xbox devices required an Xbox Live subscription in the past.

Fortunately for players, Microsoft recently confirmed that all free-to-play titles on Xbox devices will no longer require an Xbox Live subscription.

No Changes to Xbox Live Gold Pricing, Free-to-Play Games Unlockedhttps://t.co/YIHioILbwF

— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼‍♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) January 23, 2021

Players need to note that despite not requiring an Xbox Live subscription, they will require an Xbox Live account.

Creating an Xbox Live account is the only possible way for players to add Fortnite to their Xbox library. The Xbox Live account also serves as an alternative to Epic Games' progress tracker for each player.

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Fortnite on Xbox Live

Players who were paying $9.99 per month for the Xbox Live Gold service just to play a free-to-play title will no longer need to do so.

@xbox you’ve said that free to play games no longer need Xbox live gold anymore so how come when I come into fortnite it shows this pic.twitter.com/5vL5cqNz6Q

— P1rateassassin0 (@p1rateassassin0) February 21, 2021

According to the official release from Microsoft:

"For free-to-play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play those games on Xbox. We are working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible in the coming months."

It was mandatory for Fortnite players to subscribe to the Xbox Live Gold plan in order to access the online functionalities of the free-to-play title before this announcement.

Microsoft is yet to announce when this change will be implemented and when Fortnite will be truly free-to-play on Xbox devices. Until and unless there's any form of official communication from Microsoft, the community can only wait patiently for this much-needed change to be implemented in Xbox Live.