Epic Games has no shortage of plans for Fortnite Battle Royale , the free-to-play game spun off from the studio’s sandbox game (to some controversy) in September, and the company revealed several upcoming improvements in a new post on its official blog. And it sounds like there’s a little something for everyone unsatisfied with the F2P version of Fortnite.
One of the most significant changes coming to Fortnite Battle Royale is an update to the game’s map. Epic plans to add several new points of interest to the map, to fill some of the bigger voids in the current play space, and the team will update some of the existing POIs. The studio wants to make each region easier to identify at a glance, so players have a better understanding of their position without constantly checking the map. The studio will also modify the map so that players’ footsteps alter based on the surface under their feet. For now, Epic says we can expect “Wood, Stone, Metal, and Water” audio cues, but it’s probably safe to assume that list will continue to grow with Fortnite Battle Royale.
The studio also promised new, limited time game modes will arrive in December, but declined to provide further details. Here’s everything Epic offered on Thursday:
Limited Time Modes : We are introducing Limited time modes in December. Limited time modes are temporary experience with special conditions that provide new ways to play and allow us to run fun experiments. We'll announce what our first limited time mode is soon... it’s going to be EPIC!
If we had to guess, it sounds like these limited run novelties will probably be something akin to the Tavern Brawl -- meaning it relies on the same base mechanics, but might as well be an entirely different game -- in Hearthstone. Epic also hopes to improve Fortnite Battle Royale ’s stat-tracking and leaderboards; however, the current iteration creates “a lot” of extra work for the game’s servers. Right now, the studio wants to focus on scalability, since more than 20 million people are already playing Fortnite Battle Royale, but the studio does plan to revisit stat-tracking and leaderboards when the rest of the gameplay experience is more stable.
Fortnite ’s presentation will also see another another round of updates. Epic says it’s currently working on a revamped version of the inventory system that makes it easier to rearrange the quickbar, drop items and split resource stacks (or other loot) between multiple players. There’s a new Post-Match Stats screen on the way, to give you a better idea of what you did/didn’t do well in your most recent match. And Epic says it’s working on new social features to make it easier for Fortnite users to join the Duo and Squad games with players they meet in-game.
For more on the changes coming to Fortnite next month and in 2018, check out the latest State of Development update from Epic Games. Then head down to the comments and let us know if you’re excited about the new content coming to the battle royale shooter in the near future.
Fortnite Battle Royale is currently in Early Access on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Fortnite news in 2017 and however long Epic Games supports Fortnite in the years ahead.
