After four years, Fortnite‘s Arena Mode is being discontinued in Update v24.40 and replaced with a new Ranked Mode. With this drastic change, players have been curious whether Arena will ever return to Fortnite or if this beloved competitive mode is gone for good.
Will Arena Come Back to Fortnite?
Arena is not coming back to Fortnite. Although it is said that hope never dies, it’s okay to let go this time. In a blog post announcing the future of competitive Fortnite, Epic Games announced that Ranked Play is completely replacing Arena on May 16, 2023.
“With the addition of Ranked, Arena will be discontinued in v24.40. The remaining tournaments for Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 2 will not have a rank requirement for eligibility, except for the Console Champions Cup. Players will need to reach Platinum I rank or higher in Ranked Battle Royale to be eligible to compete in the Console Champions Cup on May 23.”
With Ranked Play designed as a complete overhaul of competitive Fortnite, it’s extremely unlikely that Fortnite’s Arena Mode will return. Future tournaments hosted by Epic will revolve around your rank, further supporting that Arena Mode is permanently gone.
If Arena’s unique balance changes were why you preferred playing, there’s no need to worry. Material is now capped at 500 instead of 999, and players will drop 50 of each material when eliminated across every Battle Royale game mode — including unranked matches.
Related: Best Sweaty Skins in Fortnite | Sweatiest Fortnite Skins
What Happened to Late Game Arena in Fortnite?
Late Game Arena was removed at the start of Chapter 3: Season 4 due to numerous bugs and its failure to function as intended. This was likely because the game mode was introduced during the early stages of Creative Royale’s development. It was probably for the best.
Late Game Arena served as a competitive ranked game mode in Fortnite: Battle Royale, designed for Solo games and teams of three. Its purpose was to simulate a late-game match in a Tournament, initiating the game with The Storm already in its 4th phase. Fortnite has evolved and changed so much, and it has so much content to offer now, including a LEGO version of the game, that it’s easy to forget about Late Game Arena.
How Does Fortnite’s Ranked Mode Work?
When Ranked Mode is toggled to On in the Lobby, you’ll see your current rank and a progress bar representing how close you are to increasing or lowering it.
How far your progress bar fills or diminishes will depend on how well you perform in a Ranked match. This is solely based on how many enemies your team eliminated and how high you placed in the match— a very similar system to Arena Points.
Enemies eliminated towards the end of a game and/or a higher rank than you will fill your progress further than regular eliminations. All team members will receive the same level of progress and depletion, so make sure you actually share good loot with your friends. We’re all item hogs here; we get it.
All Fortnite Ranks in Ranked Play
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Elite
- Champion
- Unreal
All ranks in Fortnite Ranked Play have three individual tiers, apart from Elite, Champion, and Unreal. After your first Ranked game of the season, you’ll be awarded a rank based on your performance in the previous season and your first match.
Players can also earn cosmetic rewards every season when playing Ranked mode, including the Burn Bright Emote that shows off your current rank. Overall, Ranked Play seems to be a much more rewarding and accessible version of Arena, with seemingly no negatives to being replaced.
