2024 marks seven years since the debut ofFortnite’s Battle Royale mode. What started as a shift from the Save the World survival mode grew into one of the market’s most popular live service games. WhileFortnitehas evolved in substantial ways since its creation, 2024 will likely go down as one of the most notable years in the game’s history.
Building off of its metaverse expansion at the end of 2023,Fortnitemade some major additions and modifications. Huge collaborations, new modes, and the return of some fan-favorite experiences helped not only defineFortnitethis year but also only scratched the surface of Epic Games' shake-ups. These are the 10 biggest changes toFortnitein 2024,in no particular order.
The Addition of Cosmetic Age Ratings
Epic Games announced, at the start of Chapter 5, that certain cosmetics would be receiving age ratings. This would bar violent orscary cosmetics like the Xenomorph skinfrom being used in any E-rated modes. Considering that Chapter 5’s goal was to appeal to new demographics, it makes sense that Epic Games would want to avoid catching any flack in the event that a younger kid logs in to a Creative map and comes face to face with a skin that parents might deem inappropriate. Epic Games rolled back many of these restrictions shortly into Chapter 5 for a variety of reasons, but the addition of age ratings to theVenom: The Last Danceskins this October shows that the rollbacks were only a brief pause as Epic reworked the system.
Disney D23 Fortnite Stream
Epic Games kicked off the year with a major announcement. Disney would be investing $1.5 billion in Epic to not only acquire an equity share in the company but also fund the creation of an “expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected toFortnite.” Though the release of this metaverse mode seems to be far off, Disney did showcase the immediate impacts of this deal atFortnite’s first-ever D23 panel.Fortnitereveals from Disney D23 were directly streamed inFortnitefor players to watch and earn afree back blingfrom, with the panel featuring notable speakers from Disney like Kevin Feige and Dave Filoni. New crossovers with Marvel,Star Wars,The Incredibles, and Disney villains were announced to the 1.2 million players watching along in-game.
Fortnite Chapter 6’s New Movement Mechanics
In years past,Fortnitehas used the start of a new chapter as an opportunity to improve the game’s movement system. Chapter 6’s start was no different, as it brought four newmovement features to Battle Royale: wall kick, wall scramble, ledge jump, and roll landing. Combined with existing movement abilities and mobility items like the Typhoon Blade,Fortnite’s movement is more nuanced than ever.
Fortnite Creative Gets Tons of Improvements
2024 was quite the year forFortniteCreative. Users were given a plethora of tools allowing them to create maps using new assets fromLEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing,Fall Guys, andTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The kinds of experiences that players can find in Creative are more diverse than ever, and this variety will only increase now that creators will be able to publish content using the newfirst-person camera mode. Chapter 5 Season 3 also saw the introduction of proximity chat for certain Creative maps, which opens up new venues for cooperation and socialization should players choose to enable the feature.
Fortnite Crew Adds New Passes
Fortnite Collabs and Crossovers Only Get Better and Better
From cosmetics to mythic items, the amount of collaborations featured inFortnitethis past year was staggering.Fortnite’s 2024 collabs include:
Besides cosmetics, 2024 saw plenty of weapons and mythics from collabs arrive in Battle Royale. Chapter 5 Season 2 let players master elemental bending techniques fromAvatar: The Last Airbender. Season 4 was entirely Marvel-themed and added items likeCaptain America’s shieldand Iron Man’s flight kit to the loot pool. The fun factor imbued inFortnite’s collabs continues to set an industry standard.
Last year’sFortnite OGmini-season was a big win for Epic.Fortnite OGbrokeFortnite’s concurrent player count record as Chapter 1 players flocked back for a chance to re-experience the classic map and its loot pool. In order to capitalize on this success,Fortnitereleased two modes targeted at OG fans. The first was Reload. Set on a miniaturized version of the Chapter 1 map, Reload is a 40-player Battle Royale variant. The mode’s main gimmick is that players can continually respawn throughout the match as long as at least one member of their squad is alive. While Reload was enough to tide over some OG fans, Chapter 6 Season 1 saw Fortnite OG return as a permanent modewith its own cosmetic pass.
The Introduction of Kicks Cosmetics
Cosmetics are the backbone of both player expression and monetization inFortnite. Cosmetics come in many forms, such as skins, back blings, weapon wraps, gliders, and harvesting tools. Right before the start of Chapter 6,Fortniteintroduced a completely new category of cosmetics in the Chapter 2 Remix pass: kicks. With kicks, players can now unlock orpurchase shoes to put on their skins. The first wave of kicks consists of Nike shoes and a fewFortniteoriginal pairs, but crossovers with other brands are on the way. While not every skin inFortnitecan use kicks at the moment, Epic is committed to making kicks compatible with a majority of the skins in the game over the course of the next year.
LEGO Fortnite Adds Split-Screen, Several Improvements Across 2024
GivenLEGO Fortnite’s positive reception and Epic’s ongoing partnership with LEGO, the mode has received plenty of updates since its introduction last December. Besides theFortnite Creativetoolkit,LEGO Fortnitereceived its own cosmetic pass, split-screen support, in-game text chat, and multiple expansions.LEGO Fortniteis also no longer a single mode, as Chapter 6 Season 1 saw the introduction ofLEGO Fortnite Brick Life— a social experience that many have compared toGTA Online.
New Fortnite Battle Pass Skins Are No Longer Exclusive
The inclusion of exclusive skins — especially collaboration skins — has helped to make individual Battle Passes more appealing. However, as more and more new players started to playFortnite,this exclusivity became an increasingly controversial topic. The fact that anyone who didn’t happen to level up a certain battle pass at a certain time will never be able to play as iconic characters like Superman, Lara Croft, or Darth Vader continues to upset many players. While Epic has confirmed that such skins will remain exclusive to players who unlocked them during their respective seasons, steps have been taken to avoid that sense of FOMO in the future. Starting in Chapter 5 Season 4, all Battle Pass skins going forward will only be exclusive for a year and a half after their initial release. Once that time is up, it’s fair game for them to return to Fortnite’s item shop where they can be purchased by anyone who didn’t unlock them the first time around.
