While Fortnite is still the biggest battle royale game in the world, the biggest threat to its spot at the top came earlier this month with the surprise launch of Apex Legends from Respawn Entertainment. Apex Legends earned widespread praise from critics and fans alike, amassing over 25 million players since launch. Considering the success of the game, it's no surprise that Fortnite appears to have lifted one of its most popular features in its latest update.

After downloading the latest update for Fortnite, battle royale players can communicate with their teammates using a ping system, not unlike the one seen in Apex Legends. This ping system allows Fortnite players to mark areas, enemies, weapons, items, etc., which allows for more efficient communication with their teammates who don't have mics. It also enhances communication with teammates who do have mics, as players are able to more efficiently call things out.

To ping in Fortnite, players can press the left on the d-pad on console or the middle mouse button on PC. Since it's a new feature, not everyone may be using it effectively right off the bat, but with practice, it could be the difference between life and death as players integrate it into their Fortnite matches.

Since the ping system has proven to be so popular for Apex Legends, it makes sense for Fortnite to copy it for its battle royale mode. But, to be clear, it's possible that Epic Games was working on a ping system for Fortnite before Apex Legends was even revealed, as unlikely as that seems. The timing of the update certainly seems to suggest that the ping system has been added as a response to Apex Legends, as opposed to a feature that was already in the works, but we'll have to wait for Epic Games to comment on the matter to be sure.

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Whether or not Fortnite takes some other ideas from Apex Legends remains to be seen, but for the most part, the latest update seems to be sticking to its guns. There have been some major changes to the battle royale map, of course, but otherwise it's the same Fortnite experience that fans have come to expect. Even so, fans can expect Epic to regularly update the game with new features and content as Season 8 marches on.

Fortnite is out now in early access for iOS, Android, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

Source: GameSpot