Fortnite

Epic Games has revealed the theme of its next Battle Pass. When it debuts, players will be taking off for space, not literally, but to earn a wicked space-themed outfit. Battle Pass is, according to Epic, "a way to get exclusive loot by playing Fortnite". It is a pass that players can purchase and as players work through the content, new in-game rewards are unlocked including the Mission Specialist Outfit. The more a player heads into Fortnite to play, the more rewards are unlocked.

The Fortnite site has a developer blog post that both reveals HUGE news in player count and details at length the impact those numbers had on servers last Sunday. The Battle Royale portion of the game score big numbers last Sunday with over 3.4 million concurrent players. However, big numbers came with a drawback in that the servers glitched hard -- so hard, in fact, that Epic is looking for network engineers at any one of its worldwide locations.

The latest Fortnite patch has been deployed that brings some new Valentine's Day skins and a special crossbow skin for lovers into the game. The latter is for Battle Royale mode only, though skins are available to all.

The latest Fortnite Battle Royale limited time event has landed in the game, this time allowing players to show off long range skills. Called Sniper Shootout, the game mode is available from now through February 2nd. During the event, players can only use sniper rifles or revolvers, though all of the normal consumables are available (minus grenades).

Fortnite players in both iterations of the game will have some nifty new things to do after today's update goes live. For Battle Royale players, the new Chug Jug is coming on board. It allows players to restore full health and shields, though they'll have to remain unmoving for 15 seconds -- an eternity in PvP-based games! For PvE players, the Mutant Storms event will kick off that is packed with mini-bosses, new quests, seasonal currency to spend on special items and more.

Epic is celebrating the first hundred days of Fornite: Battle Royale with a thirty second plus video showing off some of the player shenanigans including nearly 6 billion gliders deployed, 31 billion pieces built and more. Check it out! Have YOU been in on the fun during Fornite's first 100 days of Battle Royale?

It appears that Epic is going to keep making examples of those who would cheat in Fortnite. A new suit has been filed against an individual named Yash Gosai from Auckland, New Zealand. The filing indicates that Gosai found an exploit in the Battle Royale portion of the game that allowed players to obtain the game's premium currency, V-Bucks, without paying for them. He then broadcast a "how-to" video on YouTube that has since been removed.

The latest Fortnite: Battle Royale developer update video has been published to let players know of a big update coming next week. Most notably, several key additions are being added to maps to make them more diverse and interesting. Key to this goal are points of interest that include more named areas in the city and more defined locations within it. For instance, the Boneyard and a motel are displayed prominently on the map.

Epic is one of the first companies to come out with a statement about the Meltdown vulnerability affecting two decades' worth of Intel-based computer systems. The issue is said to be a significant one for game development and for online services. Updating systems has, however, caused performance issues and notable slowdowns for cloud-based services in particular. As a result, Epic is keeping its Fortnite community informed about recent login issues & service instability.

If you've been looking forward to logging in to Fortnite: Battle Royale, today may be a good day as a new update will be going live later this week called Sneaky Silencers. The event runs from January 5th through January 8th. During the event, all weapons are "limited to Suppressed SMG and Suppressed Pistols only".

Epic Games revealed that a new Fortnite Battle Royale map is out and ready to play right now. It is a 50v50 "last-team standing" map that pits teams of 50 in a fight to the finish. The map is out and will remain available through December 17th.

Epic Games has sent a letter to the court revealing that it did not know that one of the two people it was suing for cheating in Fortnite was underage. According to the letter, the prohibition on using a defendant's name in documentation only applies if it is understood that they are a minor. Going forward, Epic will either redact the defendant's name or simply use initials. This indicates the company will continue its litigation.

Epic Games has a new blog post on the Fortnite site to lay out the first details for changes coming to Battle Royale. The team acknowledges that its social features are somewhat lacking and will be addressing that through the addition of simpler ways to game with friends and by connecting friends lists from "other social networks".

As we reported last month, Epic Games named two Fortnite players in a lawsuit against cheaters in Fortnite: Battle Royale. The suit alleged that "Vraspir" and "Broom" infringed on the company's copyright by using a program that made changes to the game's code and thereby violating the ToS. However, it appears that one of the defendants in the lawsuit is a 14-year-old whose mother says that he is a scapegoat in Epic's ongoing battle against cheats and hacks in Fortnite.

Epic's Fortnite Twitter account was updates yesterday with the big news that the game hit a major milestone with twenty million players taking part in the free-to-play Battle Royale portion of the game since it launched earlier this fall.