What does "in the launcher" mean in Fortnite?

Fortnite is still one of the most popular games in the world, and it’s meant to be played with your friends or even make new ones. Whether it's the classic Battle Royale, intense ranked matches, or even exploring UEFN mini games, inviting and playing with friends always makes the experience even better. However, you might have noticed that sometimes when you try to invite a friend who is online, there's a note below that says they are "in the launcher."

On that note, here’s everything to know about what this status means in the game.

Understanding the “in the launcher” label on your friends in Fortnite

When you see someone marked as “in the launcher,” it usually means they are online on the Epic Games Launcher but haven’t launched Fortnite yet. This means that they have signed into their Epic Games account and are actively using the launcher, but for some other purpose instead of playing Fortnite.

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Additionally, it could mean your friend is playing a different game through Epic Games, such as Rocket League or Fall Guys.

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Also, this is a bit different from the "Away" status that usually means that your friend has the Epic Games Launcher or Fortnite, but they have been inactive for a while — maybe they stepped away from their device or just left the launcher open in the background, but they are doing something else.

Can you invite someone who is “in the launcher”?

Yes, you can invite them the same way you invite other players. When you do so, they’ll get a notification on their screen through the Epic Games Launcher. If they see it, they can decide to join you by clicking the Accept button. That would launch the game and directly spawn them in your party.

That's everything about the "in the launcher" status in Fortnite. If you see this status appearing even when someone is already in-game, you can contact the game's tech support for assistance here.

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About the author

Harshit Singh is a gaming journalist at Sportskeeda, with Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, and Marvel Rivals being his areas of specialization. A final-year B.Des (Visual Communication) student at Delhi Technological University, he is always eager to pursue creative endeavors. Harshit aims to deliver news and up-to-date content promptly to players around the globe. To that end, he acquires information from reliable forums and social media pages and religiously tracks the latest coverage of Fortnite — a game he has been playing since 2018. He is often found testing the new meta in-game or spectating competitive tournaments.

Harshit holds a deep love for video games, which stemmed from the hours he spent playing GTA Vice City, NFS Most Wanted 2005, FlatOut 2, and Total Overdose in his school days. Currently, he is veering towards story-driven, single-player games, with Red Dead Redemption 2 being one of his favorites.

Harshit is an ardent fan of esports titles like CS, Rocket League, and Valorant, with Fnatic, EDG, G2, and Astralis being a few of his favorite orgs. Counter-Strike pro Xantares and Benjifishy, an esports athlete who has mastered both Fortnite and Valorant, are inspirational figures for him.

Harshit works as a music producer under the alias Hysaze. He is extremely passionate about EDM and has garnered over 40 million streams across all platforms. He is also a regular contributor to Fandom’s EDM Wiki.

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Edited by Adarsh J Kumar