Epic launches Epic Parties for cross-game voice chat

Epic Games launched Epic Parties on Sept. 3, 2026. The feature expands the company’s text chat tool introduced in December and is available in Fortnite, the Epic Games Store on PC and mobile, and the Epic Games app.

Players can create parties, invite friends or join parties started by others. Once in a party, members can use voice chat regardless of which game or app they are running. A Start Party button in an active text chat moves participants into voice conversation.

When someone in a party is playing Fortnite and others open the game, the system will attempt to place party members into the same lobby. Users who begin a conversation on one device and then open Fortnite on another receive a prompt to transfer the voice chat so the conversation continues without interruption.

Epic built moderation tools into Epic Parties. Party members can mute, block or report other users. The company accepts voice reports when users believe someone has violated the community code of conduct. Those controls are available to any participant in a party.

Epic wrote that it plans further integrations across its ecosystem. The company intends to let players bring social avatars from Fortnite into other parts of the Epic system later this year. Support for Epic Parties will be added to Rocket League next year as that game moves to Unreal Engine 6. Epic plans to offer these social features to external developers, platforms and stores in 2027, while noting that third-party developers will choose whether to adopt them.

Epic described the effort as part of an open ecosystem where social connections and in-game purchases move with players between games.