Fortnite is offline this morning, and that’s by design. The massively popular multiplayer game went down for scheduled maintenance, allowing developer Epic Games to prepare for a major update that players will see when servers come back online.
The downtime began earlier today, with the game’s server status page confirming that “scheduled maintenance is currently in progress.” Epic Games says the game will return at midday in the UK, which is 7am on the US East Coast. When it does, Fortnite will be running version 42 — an update packed with changes.
The new version brings a host of adjustments, including alterations to the map, a variety of new weapons and items, new loot to be discovered, and changes to gameplay mechanics, such as a newly introduced “cheat code” feature. The update also fixes several bugs and other issues, and promises better performance on the Nintendo Switch. Epic Games detailed the full list of new features in a post on the Fortnite Reddit page, and separately outlined bug fixes and improvements on its official forum.
But the changes have already sparked frustration among some players. A particular point of contention is a new update that allows players to earn exclusive content only if they gift a battle pass to a friend. Critics argue this punishes those who don’t have friends playing the game to gift it to, with one player calling it a sign of “how desperate for money this company has become.”
Others voiced disappointment over the continued emphasis on collectible “sprites” introduced in a recent version, which some see as an unfair way to keep players engaged. There’s also criticism of a new addition that only levels up when players win matches, which could make recreational play feel less rewarding. One user on Reddit complained that the matchmaking system kept pitting them against stronger players, leading to consistent losses — though another user’s reply was blunt: “get better.”
