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Fortnite Battle Royale Mode Takes Aim At PUBG

Epic Games brings building mechanics to battle royale survival. 

Charles Singletary Jr

September 12, 2017 7:50 AM

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Fortnite rewarded their Early Access community with a survival mode after cracking one million players, though it was slightly delayed due to stability concerns. In what may be a surprise to many, they've added another new game mode and it channels the energy of another game that is steadily growing in popularity. Starting today, players can test out a Battle Royale mode that mixes the white-knuckle tension of PUBG with the methodical planning of Fortnite's construction mechanic.

The expected features are there, with 100 players battling to be the last man standing in an isolated battlefield. You'll jump onto an island from a flying bus with nothing but a pickaxe and that's when you'll start to see the line blur between the usual Battle Royale formula and the mechanics from Fortnite's base gameplay mode. Instead of just using the dwellings on the map as your hideouts, you can build fortifications after you collect resources with your pickaxe. There are weapons to craft and find as well, but you'll also be able to set traps on your path to being the last player standing. The new mode is available in test servers now but will go live officially for all players on September 26.

Epic's Worldwide Creative Director specifically mentions PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and H1Z1 when speaking of the inspiration to add a Battle Royale play mode to Fortnite. PUBG is a massive hit that has sold over ten million units and holds the concurrent player crown on Steam, so there's no surprise that other developers want to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Battle Royale game mode. Even Rockstar got into the mix with a new mode included in their latest update for Grand Theft Auto V. PUBG's success comes despite the fact that it's still in Early Access and it looks like Epic is hoping to have similar success with Fortnite's Early Acess phase.

Get familiar with Fortnite's base game mode with our collection of guides and stay tuned for more guide content as new features are added to the gameplay.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.