Rocket-riding sets the tone and cadence for updates

When it first launched, Fort ni te Battle Roy ale was an empty, cartoonish PUBG impression. Being free didn’t hurt, but there wasn’t much incentive to make the leap. But a string of updates and the discovery of an exploit would quickly change things.

On October 26, 2017, Epic released update 1.8, a bundle of fixes, changes, and additions wrapped in a Halloween package. A key component was the addition of pumpkin rocket launchers. No one is sure who discovered the exploit, but perhaps because the pumpkin rockets were bigger than the usual RPGs, players experimented with leaping onto them as they passed by.

It worked, leading to some of the most showy, skillful kills performed since. It was so popular that Epic folded rocket-riding back into the vanilla rocket launcher. Another update introduced bush camouflage, and Epic released launch pads, deployable ‘traps’ that gave players a second chance at skydiving.

This changed how Fortnite played. It began developing character; a bright, playful arcade shooter to PUBG’s grim, realistic military stylings.

Epic has since introduced new weapons, tools, and temporary modes on a near weekly basis.