Fortnite‘s original PvE survival game mode, Save the World, may finally be getting the attention it deserves if Epic Games’ latest batch of teasers is anything to go by. Ranging from oblique to oddly concrete, these teasers come together to form an actually coherent picture of what might be next for one of the world’s most popular live-service extraction shooters. It may well be that fans of the old-school pre-pivot Fortnite are getting their due at long last.
It’s all too easy to forget that Save the World was Fortnite‘s default identity when the game was first announced. It still exists, to be sure, and there’s some amount of value in playing Fortnite‘s Save the World mode for those that are really keen on the concept, but Epic Games has left the PvE survival mode to wither away over the years. Obviously, the extraction shooter pivot worked wonders for what was originally supposed to be a cross between Left 4 Dead and Minecraft, but PvE players have been left largely ignored ever since. As it stands, Save the World is effectively Fortnite‘s long-retired premium purchase option, with pre-2020 Founders having access to exclusive, otherwise inaccessible V-Buck missions. That, too, may be about to change if the rumors are correct.
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Fortnite’s Next Big Update May Be a Save the World PVE Rework
Prominent leaker HYPEX believes a Fortnite Save the World update is next on the docket. There’s not much in the way of concrete information right now, as Epic Games is yet to make an official statement on the matter. Yet a number of developments point to the notion that something is, indeed, up with Save the World specifically. The official Fortnite social media accounts have updated their presence with hints at a Save the World update, ranging from content videos featuring the mode’s bespoke soundtrack to using the old, original Save the World icons. Worth remembering is that Epic Games also updated Save the World’s matchmaking service a few months back, though there’s a point to be made that Fortnite‘s matchmaking has been problematic and in need of some tweaks. The existence of a Save the World update has been vaguely verified by a different leaker, Shiina, as well, giving it even more credence.
The timing of Epic Game’s slow-but-steady information drip-feed is difficult to ignore here. It’s virtually impossible to accidentally use Save the World’s soundtrack in a brand-new YouTube video, for one. Epic Game also loves hinting at hidden secrets in Fortnite every so often, be they in-game skins or upcoming content releases, so this pattern of behavior fits into the company’s operations rather well. The given expectation for this apparent Fortnite Save the World update is that the mode would finally be available as a proper free-to-play offering, though there’s bound to be more to it. As for whether it’s going to still have PvPvE elements, or if it might harken back to old-school Fortnite‘s PvE survival modes, just isn’t known yet.
Depending on how far Epic Games goes with Fortnite‘s apparent Save the World retrofit, this may represent one of the beloved extraction shooter’s biggest shifts yet. Even years after its initial free-to-play release, Fortnite remains one of the biggest contemporary games across almost all major platforms, and one might argue that Epic Game’s newfound focus on Save the World had been a very long time coming. The big question, then, is whether Epic will treat this as a genuinely substantial step forward for Fortnite, or if it might simply be paying lip service to the game’s most loyal fans.
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Naturally, a transition from a paid mode to free-to-play doesn’t guarantee a healthy and thriving experience. Epic will need to balance welcoming new players with respecting the loyalty of those who supported Save the World before Fortnite was a household name. The game’s next major content update is going to be the Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2 release, jotted down for March 19. It’s unlikely that the Save the World improvements would be bundled with it so soon, but only time will tell.
- Released
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September 26, 2017
- ESRB
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T for Teen – Diverse Content: Discretion Advised, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
