Plunk this, plunk that: Fortnite adds Battle Royale mode
Every game
The current hot fad in multiplayer games is Battle Royale, you might have noticed, following in the wake of games like Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (boasting the highest playercount on Steam) and H1Z1: King of the Kill as well as Minecraft's Hunger Games servers. Epic Games are now joining the Battle Royale battle of Battle Royale games with their early access craft-o-build-a-shooter Fortnite [official site], adding a new competitive 100-player mode. It'll officially launch on September 26th but is already rolling out for players to test. Fortnite's core solo and cooperative play is a bit bum but can this turn out better?
What the heck is the 'Pubgee' game that fella mentions?
Fortnite's Battle Royale works in the usual Plunkbat way: 100 players fly over a giant map in a transport, pick a spot to jump out and parachute down, then loot up so they can murder each other to bits until one player stands triumphant. This being Fortnite, players can also build fortifications and lay traps.
The Battle Royale mode uses separate characters, not using any of your PvE progression, and has its own separate balance too. Crouching has been added and gives the customary accuracy boost, falling damage is increased, players have a limited inventory for weapons and consumables (though ammo, traps, and building resources don't consume it), and so it. It's Plunkier, basically.
Check Fortnite version 1.6's patch notes for full details on how it all works, as well as other changes in today's update. The mode is rolling out to players in waves, slowly increasing the number of players, then it'll launch in full on the 26th.
Fortnite is currently in paid early access but will be free-to-play when it launches in 2018. Our Brendan played Fortnite last month and found all the free-to-play systems horribly overwhelming, and the game beneath all that guff not very good.
Still trying to get to grips with Fortnite? Check out our Fortnite guide hub for more tips and tricks for the game. You can also find the latest challenges in our Fortnite week 6 challenges guide.