While many video games tend to fall out of the spotlight after a couple of years (or even months), Fortnite has managed to stay at the forefront of relevant gaming titles. Quickly approaching its five-year anniversary, Fortnite keeps its gameplay refreshed with the regular addition of new locations, in-game mechanics, and weapons. The available weapons list may soon be getting said addition, with rumors of a Firework Gun coming to the game.
Epic Games' massively-played battle royale title is in the second week of its Chapter 3 Season 3. The new "Vibin'" season has added several new game mechanics that players are still just discovering. Some of these new mechanics includes the ability to ride wolves and boars as mounts, healing Slurp Bouncer Mushrooms, and Storm Sickness; a status that drains health from remaining in the storm for too long.
The rumor of the supposed Firework Gun comes from reputable Fortnite leaker and dataminer HYPEX. The leaker has posted a three-second clip from the introductory trailer of Fortnite's current season, which shows a pair of projectiles coming in from either side of the screen before exploding into a colorful firework. Originally pointed out to them by a leaker with the handle of Shot-Marco, HYPEX states that the explosive weapon should be arriving at some point during the current season, and can be found by looking in Chests, as Floor Loot, in Supply Drops, and sold by an undetermined NPC.
HYPEX goes on to say the first assumption is that the Firework Gun is most likely a form of the Grenade Launcher. While the projectiles seen above look vastly different from the regular Grenade Launcher's rounds, Fortnite has had seasonal variants of the weapon before, in the form of the Egg Launcher around Easter and Snowball Launcher in winter months. Each version varies slightly in effect, and with summer yet to get a variant of its own, the theory stands to reason despite Epic Games not yet confirming anything. However, it isn't the only theory HYPEX has on the new weapon.
The other, arguably even more probable conclusion, is that the Firework Gun is a reworked version of the fan-favorite Flare Gun. Vaulted since Fortnite Chapter 3's inaugural season, the Flare Gun is a multipurpose weapon which marks players who are under a fired flare's path, as well as ignites any structures. Considering fireworks are also fire-based, and with the 4th of July quickly approaching in the United States, signs are pointing towards a re-skinned Flare Gun. However, as with the Grenade Launcher variants mentioned earlier, it's certainly possible that this Firework Gun may have some unique attributes of its own.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.