Over the course of Fortnite's history, many different elements have come and gone. From points of interest, to item types, to a multitude of travel mechanics, the game has seen a wide variety of content over the years, some more controversial than others. According to a prominent Fortnite dataminer and leaker, one of those more controversial pieces of content may soon make its return.
Epic Games' just finished celebrating Fortnite's four year anniversary last week. The limited-time event saw a series of special quests Fortnite players could do in exchange for birthday cake-themed cosmetics, as well as temporarily bringing back the Birthday Presents item. However, the aforementioned leaked item hasn't been seen since Fortnite's second anniversary -- the divisive Mechs.
The potential return of Fortnite's Mechs comes by way of established leaker and dataminer ShiinaBR. According to Shiina, they've discovered a curiously named file uploaded with the game's latest update. Titled "FundingStation.Mech.FundedAmount," the name is undoubtedly referring to the long-vaulted powerful Mechs. At the moment, the leaker says its unknown whether they'll be the 2-person B.R.U.T.E. Mechs from seasons past, or if it will be an all-new Mech more in line with the ongoing events of Fortnite's plot. Shiina also notes Mechs will likely be added later this season based on the file text.
Fortnite's Mechs were first introduced in Season 10 of Chapter 1 as the main new mechanic. Almost immediately, the B.R.U.T.Es were met with significant backlash from players, near-universally thought of as unbalanced and overpowered. After a few weeks of vehement complaints, Epic Games eventually responded with a significant B.R.U.T.E. nerf, dramatically reducing the mobile weapon's rocket lethality and overall mobility. Its unclear whether Fortnite will re-introduce the Mech as players saw it last, the original version, or if it will be something new altogether.
The verbiage of the file ShiinaBR discovered, particularly the mentioned of "funding," suggests that the decision to bring back the Mech could be left up to players. For Season 8, Fortnite has begun allowing players to choose which otherwise-vaulted item they'd like to see brought back into the game. Players can donate Gold Bars to help "fund" bringing back old items, the most recent of which saw Shockwave Launchers win out against the Rift-To-Go. If Mechs are indeed something that's voted on, it should be interesting to see what the other option could be.
If the leak turns out to be correct, then players should still have a few weeks before any overt mention of Mechs makes its way into Fortnite. In the meantime, players can try their hand at defeating the Cube Assassin, although having a Mech for the encounter would sure come in handy.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One. and Xbox Series X/S.