Epic has announced that Fortnite will be getting a respawn functionality in next weeks patch.
That very serious news was brought to us by a man dressed in a banana suit, who confirmed that both Reboot Vans and Reboot Cards will be added to the game. All players will carry a Reboot Card which they drop upon death, allowing teammates to pick them up and take them to one of the Reboot Vans dotted around the map where they can then respawn their fallen comrades into the match. What do you mean “it sounds exactly like the well-received respawn function from Apex Legends”? How dare you.
Epic warns players to use Reboot Vans at their own peril, as using one will set off a loud honking sound as well as a beam of light that fires into the sky, so everybody that’s nearby will know exactly what you’re up to and try to take you out.
This is clear news that the phenomenal early launch success of Apex Legends—which has become a worthy adversary to Fortnite—has definitely caught the eye of Epic. Apex Legends introduced a number of innovative features into the battle royale genre, such as the ping system and the respawn function, that were very well received by both players and critics, and Epic has been sneaking the same systems into their game ever since. The start of Fortnite Season 8 at the end of February introduced a ping system to the game, and shortly after players started noticing what appeared to be non-functioning respawn vans dotted around the map, which hinted that this feature was imminent.
You know what they say, “if you can’t innovate any more, just copy people”. Okay, nobody actually says that, but you know what I mean.
The feature will go live as part of next weeks patch, which I would expect to arrive on Tuesday 9th April.
Leave a Reply