Fortnite

In its 2024 year-in-review post, Epic also says that “36.5% of total Fortnite playtime” happens in games made by creators, and that playtime stats are “buoyed by meaningful growth in game genres that don’t feature combat.”

In addition to magnetic SSDs that piggyback on your phone, at CES 2025 SanDisk announced new Fortnite-themed storage solutions including a bright yellow Peely Edition portable SSD and USB-A flash drive. They’re both available for preorder now in several capacities and are expected to ship in the next couple of weeks.

As had been teased, the singer was encased in a block of ice, only to be released at 3PM ET this afternoon. During my match, all combat stopped so that everyone could listen to her sing “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” before things went back to normal (and I was immediately killed). Her appearance kicks off the game’s annual holiday event — details are right here.

The Fortnite battle royale island has been snowed over for the holidays, and near the center is a giant block of ice — and it’s widely believed that it will slowly thaw to eventually reveal none other than Mariah Carey. This is exactly the kind of weird-ass stuff I play this game for.

This time it’s Lionel Messi, who joins the likes of former teammate Neymar, other athletes like Naomi Osaka and LeBron James, and musicians ranging from Billie Eilish to Snoop Dogg as playable characters. He’ll be available in the item shop starting at 7PM ET tonight.

Or at least, it won’t for a while. Epic has confirmed that it’s going to continue to support Fortnite’s music mode Fortnite Festival through “2025 and beyond.” This comes after news that Rocket Racing, which launched during the same period, would no longer be getting themed updates. Then again, music continues to be a big deal for Fortnite.

Fortnite’s new Japanese-themed season is excellent, but some players have expressed frustrations about changes to XP rewards that appear to make XP gains slower.

Fortnite’s nostalgia trip continues, this time with the return of OG, which brings back the game’s very first chapter. It’ll be available as a permanent fixture staring on December 6th.

Following a record-breaking virtual concert, Fortnite’s sixth chapter kicks off tomorrow, which means it’s time for a new map. The Japanese-themed “Hunters” season will introduce locales like “Demon’s Dojo” and “Nightshift Forest,” and presumably at some point Godzilla will show up. Also, there’s a giant, ancient turtle. You can check out the full details on the new season right here.

Fortnite’s most recent virtual concert just wrapped up, and Epic Games already says that it was the biggest in the game’s history, with more than 14 million concurrent players. For comparison, more than 12 million concurrent players attended the Travis Scott event in 2020. If you missed it, the event will air again at 8PM ET tonight.

CRKD has announced a new version of its compact NEO S controller with an attachment that adds five fret buttons for playing Fortnite Festival and other rhythm games. The accessory was designed by some of the people who created Guitar Hero and DJ Hero’s peripherals, and the controller is available for preorder now for $59.99 with shipping expected to start as early as November 29th.

After a series of leaks, Epic has confirmed that Godzilla is coming to Fortnite. He’ll appear in a new season called “Hunters,” which also features Baymax of Big Hero 6 fame. It kicks off on December 1st — the day after the next in-game concert. Now to see what a kaiju looks like in Jordans.

It’s been less than a month since Fortnite’s last concert, where Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice performed in Times Square. But the game is already gearing up for another performance, this one more virtual, to close out Chapter 2: Remix on November 30th. It’ll include the debut of a new Juice WRLD track — you can check out all the details right here.

As of December 1st, Fortnite Crew, a monthly $11.99 subscription that already includes perks like the Battle Royale battle pass and 1,000 V-bucks, will also give you access to the rewards passes for Fortnite Festival, Lego Fortnite, and a new “OG Pass” that will tie into the revived Fortnite OG mode. The change is part of Epic’s work to streamline its passes.

After a brief delay, Fortnite is introducing a new cosmetic called “kicks” on November 21st that lets you change your character’s shoes. Yes, it’s yet another thing to buy in the game, but I also can’t wait to make a ninja turtle wear Air Jordans. Here’s a full rundown of the supported skins.

Could be handy if you want to keep track of what your favorite creators are making, or where else to find them on the internet.

Eminem is now live in Fortnite for week two of its Chapter 2 Remix event. Players can purchase his avatar and visit a special in-game location called Spaghetti Grotto which ostensibly features his mother’s signature dish. But the most inspired Eminem-flavored addition to the game is a mythic minigun that spits out bullets synced up to the rapid-fire lyrics from “Rap God.”

They’ll be performing at Times Square in NYC, but you can watch the show in Fortnite as part of the game’s kick-off for the next season.

Epic has been teasing another throwback season following the success of Fortnite OG. But it looks like it will be preceded by an event called “the prelude” on November 1st at 6:30PM ET, which appears to have something to do with music. Maybe a surprise concert is in store. At the very least, there will be butterflies.

As part of its get-out-the-vote efforts — which included Tim Walz playing Crazy Taxi — the Kamala Harris campaign has created a Fortnite experience called Freedom Town, USA. You can try the experience at code 7331-5536-6547.

Fortnite’s Halloween event kicks off on October 11th, and it will add Jigsaw to the battle royale lineup. He should feel right at home in a squad with pop stars and Disney characters.

That’s from Ben Grossman — who, I should note, is here to hype Epic’s developer tools like Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Still, I kind of agree with him.