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Fortnite's newest mode cuts combat to create a purely social space

Building off the virtual concerts that have graced the battlefields of Fortnite's traditional battle royale maps, Epic Games' latest addition to the game eschews combat to instead focus on online hangouts.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

April 30, 2020

1 Min Read
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A Fortnite leak has turned into a semi-formal announcement: Epic Games’ latest addition to Fortnite is an entirely combat-free map billed as an “all chill, no sweat” playground.

The pitch makes for an interesting evolution of the non-combat events that frequently made their way into Fortnite’s traditional battle royale maps like a recent digital performance from Travis Scott (that itself lined up with 27.7 million unique logins during five scheduled shows).

As an entirely social space, the Party Royale island offers up different activities at landmarks spread across its new map, offering players the chance to “race around obstacle courses by land or sea, perfect your skydive, go fishing with friends, and more.”

While messaging sent along to content creators (spotted by PC Gamer) suggests the mode was initially planned to go live through a limited test on Friday, Epic has since made the call to open Party Royale up to the masses with Fortnite’s 12.50 update last night.

About the Author

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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