Fortnite Gets Its Battle Royale On Starting Today

Despite getting some heat from Bluehole regarding its likeness to its own PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Epic Games has moved forward with the release of its new Battle Royale mode for Fortnite – and it looks to be a big hit with fans.

The mode, which is a free-to-play addition to the game, offers a 100 player PvP mode, in which players can unite together with Squads, and take advantage of new weapons and supply drops to take on their opponents.

In addition, the game has also been updated with a few balance and bug-squashing fixes in tow, which should automatically prompt the next time you start it up.

Check out the full list of features and fixes below:

Squads

• Invite friends to play on your team using the in-game Friends List.
• Use the “Fill” option to automatically fill your team with other players.
• When your health falls to zero you’ll be “down but not out” (DBNO). Your squadmates only have a short amount of time to revive you before your health bar drains.
• You can see your team members’ status on the HUD, including Health and Shields.
• Use the map to place location markers which are visible to your team and will display on the compass at the top of the HUD. Keep an eye out for markers from your squad!
• Cooperate with team members to build awesome defensive structures!
• Friendly-fire is enabled, so be careful where you aim! Intentionally attacking squadmates violates the code of conduct.

Weapons

• Scoped Assault Rifle:Improves accuracy over the base version, and is best used to engage medium-long range targets.
• Zapotron: Can be used to fire electric blasts in short bursts, or charged up to release an enormous amount of damage! Fire sparingly, as Cell Ammo is extremely limited. This weapon is only available in Supply Drops.
• Tactical Submachine Gun: The Tactical SMG is an effective medium range weapon with high rate of fire.

Gameplay Balance Fixes

• Skydiving and paragliding lateral speeds have been reduced when moving backwards or strafing.
• Falling damage when landing on slopes is reduced depending on the angle of the slope. Full damage is applied for horizontal surfaces, and reduced at steeper angles.
• Foot dust no longer kicks up when crouched, aiming down sights or making small movements.
• While using Health and Shield items, you can now move your character a short distance without cancelling the action.
• Increased distance that you can see other players to 275m (was 250m).
• Greatly increased distance that you can see player-created structures to 275m (was 180m). This fixes issues where players could appear to be floating in the sky, or projectiles would impact an “invisible” distant wall.

Fortnite is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.