Fortnite has announced a new hot fix to the game that went live on Tuesday morning. The patch includes the removal and the return of some popular weapons, and a new limited-time mode called Comeback Squads.
Fortnite is an ever-changing beast with an incredible amount of content to keep track of. In 2019, players were introduced to the Vault, a safe container of sorts that exists between dimensions. The vault brought about massive changes to the ongoing story and lore of Fortnite, but also provided the developers a handy in-world tool for organizing and teasing legacy content.
Found within the vault are many weapons and items from Fortnite’s past that, for one reason or another, the developers decided to remove. This is what happened to the Flint-Knock pistol, a loot-able gun that was introduced around the same time as the vault. The short-range boom cannon dealt massive headshot damage and was the first weapon in Fortnite that kicked the user backwards. After several months of hilarious service, the Flint-Knock was vaulted from regular play, accessible only through Playground and Creative modes.
With patch 15.40 last week, developer Epic Games un-vaulted the heavy-ammo weapon for a limited time. Now, a week later, the Flint-Knock has been re-vaulted in favor of the iconic Hand Cannon. In addition to the weapon swap, the newest 15.40.1 patch introduces a new limited-time mode dubbed "Comeback Squads." The mode offers player limited respawns in place of the usual one-and-done approach featured in most battle royale games. The accessible loot increases in power with every life, giving a players on a losing streak a chance to fight back and regain dominance in the battle.
This patch is the latest in the ongoing, ever-evolving story of the little game that could; Fortnite began life as a PVE survival-shooter that released in early access in 2017. While relatively well-received, Fortnite exploded into a popular culture phenomenon with the release of the free-to-play battle royale mode that has become synonymous with the title. Fortnite quickly became arguably the most recognizable video game in the world, with celebrity appearances and innumerable cross-overs with other popular franchises.
Since its release, Fortnite has enjoyed 15 seasons across two chapters, multiple maps and hundreds of content updates. The next season is right around the corner, and fans are expecting it to be the biggest yet. With an ongoing narrative and legacy vault, the industry can expect Fortnite to stay around for quite a while.
Fortnite is available on PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles.