Strange as it May Seem, Fortnite is Finally Leaving Early Access

As popular as Fortnite Battle Royale is, its oft-forgotten Save the World campaign has been in Early Access for years. Long before becoming a cultural phenomenon Fortnite was a co-op PvE experience, and today Epic announced that original half of the game is leaving Early Access (and by extension, the rest of the game as well).

Save the World will remain a premium, paid product (despite Epic stating some time ago they planned to make it free-to-play), and while production of new content will slow down, Epic plans to continue support for Save the World. Existing Founders will be upgraded to the next level for free, and will receive the new Metal Team Leader Pack and 8,000 V-Bucks.

Atop this change comes the announcement that Battle Royale skins and cosmetics will no longer be supported in Save the World. You’ll keep any you already own, but once the change takes place cosmetics will be split between the two modes. That doesn’t mean Save the World players are being left alone: the game will move into a seasonal schedule, “where existing in-game narratives and events, such as Frostnite and Dungeons, will continue on a seasonal rotation unique to Save the World and separate from Battle Royale.” That means existing heroes, schematics, and questlines will appear and disappear as seasons rotate, though new heroes and quests will be introduced (albeit at a slower pace).

To support this change Epic is introducing Ventures to Save the World, season-long excursions within seasonal zones that will have new and unique modifiers to shake-up the experience. There will be a progression path attached to each Venture full of challenges to overcome. Players who push into the upper echelons of the progression ladder will even earn Supercharger materials, which will boost the level of items within their collection beyond the current cap. Also, they’ve added Pirates with a new tropical biome and narrative, because why not?

When the full launch of Save the World arrives the entirety of Fortnite will officially leave Early Access, and the original Founder’s packs will be replaced with the first of the latest pack series – The Metal Leader Pack. It’ll retail for $20 and provide access to Save the World, along with some cosmetics, challenges, and 1,000 V-Bucks (that are exclusive to Save the World).

You can read the full post from Epic over on the Fortnite website here. I was in the closed beta for Fortnite ages ago, before the Battle Royale mode even existed. I enjoyed Save the World, but it clearly needed more work. I haven’t touched it since Battle Royale took over, but I may have to pop my head back in to see what’s become of Save the World. I probably won’t know what the Hell is going on, but that’s half the fun isn’t it? In the interim be sure to check out our extensive Fortnite Battle Royale guide series.