Fortnite

Epic Removed A Popular Fortnite Mechanic Because It Made People Play Less

Epic has finally addressed Fortnite’s controversial 8.20 patch, which removed a popular mechanic from the main game by which players would get health and shields when they eliminated opponents. According to Epic, the mechanic, called “siphoning,” made players avoid the main battle royale mode. In a competitive update today, Epic reiterated their initial reason for…

Fortnite‘s Endgame Mode Is Fun Whether You’re Wielding Avengers Weapons Or Being Thanos

Even if you’re not a Marvel fan (I’m not), Fortnite’s Avengers tie-in, Fortnite Endgame, is a lot of fun. It continues the game’s recent trend of unique limited-time modes that barely feel like Fortnite but still fit right into its world. As my colleague Mike Fahey detailed this morning, Fortnite Endgame pits two sides against…

Thanos Returns In Fortnite‘s Avengers: Endgame Event, And He’s Got Company

Last year Thanos rampaged across Fortnite Battle Royale’s island, taking out players left and right as part ofan epic Avengers: Infinity War tie-in. Now the Mad Titan is back, backed by a team of Chitauri warriors and opposed by a team of heroes wielding Avengers weapons in the limited-time Fortnite Endgame event. Rather than pitting…

The Fortnite World Cup Is Worth Watching, Despite Its Flaws

Over the last two weekends, I’ve obsessively watched the Fortnite World Cup tournaments. I turn on the long broadcasts while cleaning the house or cooking, certainly tormenting my neighbors with hours of esports shoutcasting. It’s introducing me to new players and techniques, and it’s inspiring me to get better at the game. Watching competitive Fortnite…

Report: Fortnite Developers Describe Severe Ongoing Crunch

Crunch is a widespread disease in the gaming industry, sometimes forcing developers to pull 16-hour workdays or six-day work weeks to finish a game on an over-ambitious timeline. Today, a new report from Polygon detailed how the developers of Fortnite, a game that technically is never finished, can suffer through crunch to keep the blockbuster…

Epic Has Caught Over 1000 Fortnite World Cup Cheaters So Far

Epic Games revealed some statistics about cheating in last weekend’s Fortnite World Cup opens today, including actions taken against over 1,200 accounts for various forms of cheating. Cheating has been a hot topic in competitive Fortnite this week. The esports team Kaliber released one player, Johnathan Kosmala, for cheating during the World Cup qualifiers; Kosmala…

The Fortnite World Cup will have a Creative competition, Epic announced today. Trials will run from April 29 to June 7 and feature five different community-made Creative games. Players can submit clips of themselves running the modes, and the top selected player from each trial will earn a spot in the finals in New York.…

Fortnite’s Dog Petting Sucks

Fortnite’s latest update brings aerial battles, but it also quietly introduced what should have been a very welcome feature: the ability to pet dogs (and cats, and other animals). It’s a pity, then, that it sucks. Before we go any further, for reference here is some good video game dog petting, courtesy of Far Cry…

Fortnite‘s New Air Royale Mode Is Chaotic Fun

While I played Fortnite’s new limited-time mode, Air Royale, my colleague Cecilia looked over my shoulder and said, “This isn’t the game I used to play.” Air Royale barely feels like Fortnite, but it’s a lot of fun. The new LTM showed up in today’s 8.40 patch. In it, 12 duos are put in Stormwing…

Here’s Brazilian Fortnite player zCharlees_ pulling off a wild three eliminations with the Boom Bow in the Fortnite World Cup Week 1 finals. North American East and West finals are still to come if you want to join me in saying “OK, just one more match” and then continuing to watch.

The Good And Bad Of Fortnite‘s New Respawn System

Fortnite’s reboot vans are here, and now I have even more time to yell “please get over here!” at my teammates. Last week, Epic announced reboot vans for Fortnite. The vans let teammates in the popular battle royale game respawn each other. They were added to the game today, appearing at points of interest around…

Fortnite Battle Royale: The Kotaku Review

It’s hard to say how Fortnite is turning out because it keeps turning into something else. Skins and storylines come and go. Landmarks appear and disappear. Weapons are added and removed. Recently, a mysterious excavation site appeared, but it was dug up and abandoned by the time I got there the next day. As I’m…

Epic Games Is Spending $500,000 Just So Competitive Fortnite Players Can Practice

It’s a light weekend for esports, save for Epic Games’ Fortnite World Cup Warm Up. It’s a two-day mini-tournament which, because it’s Fortnite, will nevertheless include a $500,000 prize divided up among hundreds of winners. Competitive Fortnite’s World Cup event is slated to take place in July. Before that, teams will compete in a series…

Fortnite To Add ‘Reboot Vans,’ Which Are Pretty Much Apex Legends‘ Respawn Beacons, Except Vans

Epic finally confirmed that reboot vans are coming to Fortnite next week, putting an end to players’ speculation. Reboot vans are a new feature, but they’ll seem familiar if you’ve played Apex Legends Here’s how they work: Dead squadmates will drop “reboot cards” that any surviving squad member can take to reboot vans, which will…

Epic Bans Stretched Screen Resolutions From Fortnite Tournaments, Upsetting Pros

Fortnite, like life, is full of mysteries. Why do we build if we’re only going to destroy? Can taking countless lives to survive a bloodbath really be considered a victory or, indeed, royale? What’s the deal with this tomato guy? Why is he smiling? What does he know? Then there’s the biggest question of all:…

Fortnite Pros Still Don’t Have A Good Way To Practice

Fortnite’s World Cup begins April 13 and will be comprised of weekly online matches leading up to a final with a $30 million prize pool in July in New York City. The weekly tournaments each have a $1 million pool, which means there’s a lot of money on the table for would-be pros—if they can…

Ten Kids Arrested In India For Playing PUBG

The Indian state of Gujarat recently banned children from playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, after local authorities decided the shooter was to blame for an upswing in “violent traits” among local kids. The police report announcing the ban says that “Due to these games, the education of children and youth are being affected and it affects the…

Fortnite’s 8.10 patch brings a new vehicle, the Baller. It also makes vending machines free but one use only. There are changes to crossplay: PS4 and Xbox players now matchmake with each other, as do Switch and mobile players, which Epic hopes will create “an on-average better per-game experience for both Mobile and Switch players.” See…

Fortnite Dance Lawsuits Dropped, At Least For Now

On March 4 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people must complete their registration with the Copyright Office before they can sue for copyright infringement. As a result, lawsuits against the makers of Fortnite, Epic Games, over certain dance emotes available in the game have been dropped until the Copyright Office’s review of the dances…

Latest Fortnite Save The World Update Makes Big Changes To Heroes

The latest update to Fortnite Save The World is changing the way heroes work, giving players more customization and choice over perks and abilities. This new hero loadout system is part of the Season 8 update. Heroes will now each have a specific perk and most reskins will be unique. For example, as explained in…