Epic Games overhauls Fortnite Battle Royale’s map and removes friendly fire

Straight after hitting the 40-million-player milestone, Fortnite Battle Royale is getting its biggest update yet including big changes to its current map. Landing tomorrow, January 18th, players will be able to explore brand new areas, as well as test its new dynamic with friendly fire switched off.

It might not be on the scale of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds entirely new desert map, Miramar, but the overhaul to Fortnite Battle Royale’s core map adds more variety to its biomes, underground mines and a whole new city area to explore with high ride buildings. Existing areas are also getting an makeover, so don’t be surprised if you come across some surprising new elements when roaming around.

Of course, under the hood changes are being made to optimise the Early Access title, along with some surface additions of new materials to build and what looks like a new mode based around football, or what the US calls soccor.

Moreover, Epic Games is experimenting with its friendly fire, removing it in an “exploratory” decision. This is entirely subject to change before the release of the game and the publisher will be keeping an eye on fan feedback given how it is likely to change the dynamic of the already-established game.

The update is a result of Epic’s Unreal Engine, allowing the company to experiment with the inclusion of level streaming.

“It allows us to increase the performance but also opens us up to opportunities to improve the map in the future,” Williamson told Eurogamer. “Level streaming is technology which uncaps us to be able to increase the variety and quality of the localised area you're in at any given time. It's great technology that is useful in Battle Royale but also in all of our Unreal Engine licensees.”

KitGuru Says: I must admit, while I enjoy the cartoon-styled graphics, I didn’t enjoy how samey everything looked. It’s good to see a bit more variety go into the map that players are expected to delve into time and time again. What do you think of the upcoming changes?

Become a Patron!