It looks as if Fortnite will launch the Playground this week, at least if the weekend update message is any guide; it’s touting a mode where you can “creativity run wild on your own private island.” The mode is supposed to be a limited-time one that gives players the time to actually gather resources and build stuff during the battle royale part of the game (instead of, you know, just hiding in bathtubs). If you die in this type of “creative” map, you’ll respawn and keep on zerging. As the studio explained a month ago,
“The Playground LTM will load you into the Battle Royale Map with some adjusted settings. Battle and build to your heart’s content with an extended period of time to roam around the map as well as increased resource generation. All treasure chests and ammo crates will be spawned, try droppin’ in different spots and scope out the loot. Friendly fire is on so you can scrimmage with your squad (up to 4 friends per match), but fear not you’ll respawn immediately.”
Meanwhile, it looks as if one of the many, many people Epic is pursuing in court over various slights is actually putting up a defense. This time, it’s not a player accused of exploiting; it’s a QA contractor who Epic alleges leaked information about season four, which another party then published on Reddit. Epic is suing the contractor, Thomas Hannah, but not the third party; Hannah himself admits he was under NDA but denies most of the accusations about willful leaking. Epic is going all out over the “trade secrets” claim, saying it has “suffered and is continuing to suffer irreparable injury” and demanding punitive damages. I bet you can’t even remember this leak or this patch, so that seems a stretch for the most popular game in the world.
