Following its humble beginnings back in 2017 as a free to play addition to the base Fortnite Save the World campaign, the Battle Royale mode has proven to be a massive success for Epic Games. Working under the live service model, Fortnite Battle Royale continues to evolve at a constant rate, thanks to patches and updates, as well as an influx of new content. Through the seasonal structure as well as battle passes, fans continue to flock back to the game to check out what's new.
A big part of that sustained success over the past few years has been through the various crossovers with other franchises and properties through different mediums like television, video games, film, and even comic books. In fact, one fan in particular managed to capture how wild Fortnite has become by posting a TikTok video where a player dressed as Naruto uses Spider-Man web gloves to kill a Demogorgon from Stranger Things, and then performs the Renegade dance emote. In addition to all of these crossover skins and content, Epic continues to keep the game updated on a nearly weekly basis, with new content getting added.
This week brought the January 4 hotfix to Fortnite, essentially serving as the last call for the game's annual Winterfest event which ends on January 6. The small update this week brings a brand new item to the game in the form of a Shield Keg. As a support item, players can throw down this new consumable, which then turns into a sprinkler that restores the shield for all players near it, including enemies. These can be found in chests, from supply drops, as well as on the ground. Players can also trade gold bars for them from Lt. John Llama and The Scientist as well.
The addition is meant to go hand in hand with another recently added support item, the Med-Mist. Originally introduced in the previous hotfix 19.00, Med-Mist is an item that Fortnite players can use to heal themselves or by spraying it on other players. These items have joined the likes of Tents and even Spider-Man's web shooters as new additions following the recent Chapter 3 update.
In terms of the game's future, fans are eager to see what other kinds of new modes could be added. Fortnite has had a long history with limited time modes as well as integrating custom games from the Creative side, but a new rumor seems to hint that a a No Build mode could be added soon. In it, players wouldn't be able to use materials to build massive structures, turning Fortnite into a more traditional style experience.
Fortnite is available right now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.