‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’ Will Drop Halloween Treats Thursday By Adding Leaderboards, Cosmetics, And More

Fortnite: Battle Royale players will be getting a huge Halloween treat. Epic Games is releasing the Fortnitemares 1.8 update to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC multiplayer shooter with many of the most requested features from the community like Leaderboards, cosmetics, console voice chat, and much more.

The Fortnitemares 1.8 update will be released early Thursday morning on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC at 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT, per a separate post from Epic Games. The servers for the game will be offline while the patch is deployed. There is no word on how long the game will be offline but past updates have taken only an hour or two.

Console Changes

Some console-specific improvements will be introduced with this Fortnite: Battle Royale update. Reduced input latency is coming to controllers and Epic Games is putting the 30-fps cap back on the PS4 and PS4 Pro.

In-game voice chat will also be added to both consoles following its introduction to the PC version last week. The microphone will be activated by default but can be turned off in the Audio Option menu. It’s important to note that voice chat will only work when grouped up with others in Squads and Duos mode. There is no general or proximity voice chat.

Other console-specific improvements include the first alternate controller configurations. The “Combat Pro” configuration will allow players to swap weapons quickly using the bumper buttons. Meanwhile, Epic Games continues to make changes to the sensitivity.

Leaderboards and Seasons

Leaderboards have been a much-requested feature from Fortnite: Battle Royale players and they will finally arrive with the 1.8 patch. Epic Games will support a global leaderboard and a friend leaderboard for the Solo, Duo, and Squads matches. The leaderboards will be reset each week and players will be assigned to divisions of 50 active players to see who will come out on top.

The leaderboards work in conjunction with Seasons being introduced into Fortnite: Battle Royale. Players will have the chance to earn unique seasonal rewards like banners and umbrellas along with banner flair starting with the Fortnitemares event.

Cosmetics and the Bad News

Epic Games is introducing an Item Shop to Fortnite: Battle Royale that will allow players to purchase various cosmetic items in-game. These cosmetics can be applied characters, gliders, and pickaxes with offers rotating on a weekly basis.

Now, here’s the bad news. There is currently no way to earn the in-game currency, V-bucks, while playing Battle Royale. That means players will have to spend $5 to $20 on various skins unless those who are enjoying the game free-to-play purchase a Founder’s Pack and start earning V-bucks from the PVE “Save the World” campaign.

Additionally, a Reddit post from a member of the Epic Games development teams reveals that players will be able to choose their outfit from the Locker prior to a match starting. Choosing the outfit also selects the character that will be used for that match. If a player does not select an outfit, then the character model will be randomly selected as it is today.

Here are the price tiers for the cosmetic items to start with. Epic Games lowered the prices from what was initially announced.

Gliders

• 500 Coins
• 800 Coins
• 1500 Coins

Pickaxes

• 500 Coins
• 800 Coins
• 1500 Coins

Skins

• 800 Coins
• 1200 Coins (Skull Trooper Skin)
• 1500 Coins (Ghoul Trooper Skin)
• 2000 Coins (Future cool-looking Skins)

New Item

Along with all the other announcements, Epic Games is also introducing a new consumable item to Fortnite: Battle Royale. Slurp Juice is a regeneration potion that grants 1 health point and 1 shield point per second for 25 seconds. Epic plans to slowly introduce more potions to the game beyond the current Shield potion.

[Featured Image by Epic Games]