Despite quickly approaching its five-year launch anniversary, Fortnite is a title that remains at the forefront of relevance due to its near-constant stream of updates. Regularly tweaking things like weapon selection and gameplay mechanics to keep things fresh, Fortnite is again switching things up with its v20.40 update, which introduces the Sideways Showdown Week, makes numerous performance improvements across different platforms, and more.
Epic Games' ever-popular free-to-play battle royale title is in the final few weeks of its Chapter 3 Season 2. The new update progresses certain things introduced in Fortnite's v20.30 update, with the Battle for Tilted Towers finally reaching its conclusion, leaving Command Cavern and The Fortress as the IO's last remaining stronghold. Today is also the last day Star Wars weapons like Lightsabers and E-11 Blaster Rifles will be available.
The biggest component of Fortnite's v20.40 update is the introduction of Sideways Showdown Week. Running now through May 24, Sideways weapons have been unvaulted, and can be found anywhere on the island. First introduced during Chapter 2 Season 8, Fortnite's Sideways weapons do not use regular ammo, instead using a cooldown system with an infinite amount of shots. While the Sideways Rifle and Sideways Minigun have made their return, the fan-favorite Sideways Scythe appears to be omitted. While Sideways weapons were previously only upgradeable via Cube Monster Parts, players can take them to Upgrade Benches.
Fortnite v20.40's other major part is several performance improvements, particularly with next-gen consoles. Epic has stated that input latency has been reduced on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S running at 60fps. However, the PS5's improvements go much further. PS5 players can now enable 120fps within Fortnite's settings, rather than adjusting the console setting itself. The new update also adds Fortnite Shared Wallet functionality to PlayStation, meaning a player can now earn V-Bucks on any platform, and use them when logged in to any other platform.
The new Fortnite also finally begins the island's next item vote. Players must decide between voting for the mobility-enhancing Balloons, or the handy vehicle/squad defensive barrier in the Shield Bubble. As with all prior item votes, players must do so with Gold Bars, with the first to reach full funding added straight into the current loot pool. Other changes made by the update include a permanent increase in utility items like Shockwave Grenades, Rift-To-Gos, and Cow Catchers in Zero Build mode, and a few UI bug fixes.
One curious thing about the update is that there is no formally announced battle for a named location, as has been the custom of the past several updates. With just a few weeks left until the start of Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 3, it should be interesting to see what Epic has in store for a finale.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Epic Games