Free ‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’ Hits PS4, Xbox One, And PC With Support For Squads Plus New Weapons
Epic Games did as promised Tuesday and made Fortnite: Battle Royale free on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The last man standing spin-off of the main Fortnite is available to download on all platforms with updates to add support for squads and more.
Fortnite: Battle Royale can be downloaded from the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store on consoles. Meanwhile, PC gamers will have to go to the Epic Games website and download the game from there using the developer’s launcher.
Those that already purchased Fortnite will automatically have access to the Battle Royale mode. However, you can gain a refund if you purchased the game just for Battle Royale between September 12 and September 20, 2017 by filling out a form on the Epic Games support page.
The free-to-play release of Fortnite: Battle Royale also comes with an update to the shooter that adds a four-man squad playlist. Epic Games plans to bring a duos playlist once it has had the opportunity to “iterate and polish” plus monitor the player population.
Squads do support a DBNO (down but not out) playstyle. Players will have a chance to revive fallen teammates before they bleed out or are killed off for good. Epic Games has also added waypoint markers to the map so teams can figure out where to go together.
Two new weapons, the scoped assault rifle and tactical submachine gun, have also been added to Fortnite: Battle Royale.
It’s important to remember that while Fortnite: Battle Royale is free to play it is still fairly early in development. Epic Games released the game mode just three weeks ago and still has much work to do to build the game out. It is still missing key features like the ability to create your own character, leaderboards, and more.
Epic Games immediate roadmap for development includes the addition of supply drops plus improvements to the combat feel and inventory management. The developers will also begin adding leaderboards and rankings to Fortnite: Battle Royale over the next few weeks along with cosmetic items.
Players should expect to see some issues logging into Fortnite: Battle Royale too. Servers will be taxed as PS4, Xbox One, and PC owners all flock to try the game out.
The baseline Fortnite game will still require a purchase of a Founder’s Pack to play on all platforms. Epic Games plans to make the cartoon-ish build and survive co-op experience free to play sometime in 2018.
The developers behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds recently questioned the similarities between their game and Fortnite: Battle Royale combined with Epic Games’ role as game engine provider to PUBG. What do you think of the Fortnite spin? Sound off in the comments below.
[Featured Image by Epic Games]
