Summary
This post will describe all the weird general behaviors of this issue, as well as some workarounds used to get the Switch into the project, at the end of this post I’m sure it will be clear that this is an issue on Epic’s side.
Nintendo Switch and low end android devices are crashing every time they join our UEFN session.
But if at ANY time I make a private code version of the island, I’m able to join with the Nintendo Switch and Android with NO ISSUES AT ALL.
This project is almost completed but we are afraid of publishing because of this issue - some similar reports here on the forums say it can also crash on Public Listed Island Codes
How this happened in my project; unsuccessful attempts to debug:
I’ve been working on a UEFN project with multiple people for almost a year now, regularly having a Nintendo Switch join my editor session via the friends list “JOIN GAME” to test features. The last time I was able to do this was on the 12th of September 2024, a couple days after that I tried to join and I was met with the crash “The software was closed because an error occurred”
I have used revision control to go back to many versions prior to these dates and we still have the crash. So this issue is very likely due to a Fortnite update
Since then I’ve done multiple inconclusive debugs, the last one reinforces that it is something out of my reach:
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deleting every asset type from the content drawer and replacing them with a simple version, ex: every static mesh replaced with a cube, materials etc
Switch was able to get into the editor session, I reverted all changes to keep working, a day later did the exact same thing and the switch crashed -
delete 90% of devices, most custom building prop BP world actors, and every verse device
Switch got into the session, I began dragging the deleted BP’s back into the world and doing a push every 4 or so assets. Manually closing the game in the switch and joining back once the push concludes
Had some crashes, removed suspected assets, did a couple pushes /opened another project with the switch to clear things up - was able to continue testing
After a few more of these asset additions, I met a crash again but I could not get rid of it. I deleted every asset from that push, even previous ones that were working but nothing solved the crash.
Every time I deleted an asset I also changed the color of a material that was in the world and did a push, this was an attempt to make sure whatever caused the crash was deleted -
revert changes, delete the same stuff from above, start a session, Nintendo Switch gets in, I rollback to the full project that has every actor/device/asset, do a push, and it works!
It works, and I can do anything I want in the project, push as many changes as I want and it NEVER crashes. However, if I go back to the lobby and try to join the UEFN session again, It crashes.
No changes at all were made between leaving and joining the session again
These tests were done over the course of many days
What causes this crash seems to be something when the Switch changes from the loading screen to the game. Because I see the loading bar getting filled, and even see the Switch player spawned on my computer screen, its when it finishes loading that it crashes
But again, none of this makes sense because I can make a private code at any time and the switch gets in with no issues.
And also the fact that I can do as many pushes and changes as I want once the switch is in. This also happens in lower end Android devices
Please select what you are reporting on:
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Stability
Steps to Reproduce
What causes the crash is unknown since we do not have access to the device’s logs, but all the weird behaviors are well described above
Expected Result
All devices should be able to successfully join the island, regardless of session type
Observed Result
Nintendo Switch and Lower end Android devices crash when joining UEFN session, and possibly a Public Listed Island Code
Platform(s)
windows, nintendo switch, lower end android devices
Additional Notes
This is an urgent issue because it prevents us and others from publishing islands due to fear of having crashes in a Public Listed Island Code. Other forum reports state that it has happened to them