Epic Games Delays Free-To-Play Version Of 'Fortnite Save The World'

“Fortnite” has become huge in terms of popularity thanks to its free-to-play battle royale mode. The game’s “Save The World” story mode isn’t as popular and Epic Games wants to give it the free-to-play treatment. However, the developer has announced that the release of this version of the mode has been delayed.

“We decided to move the free-to-play launch of ‘Save the World’ out of this year. We’re working on a broad set of features, reworks, and backend system scaling we believe are needed to go free-to-play,” Epic Games said on its website. “Save the World has grown consistently since our launch in July 2017 and ‘Fortnite’ overall has experienced unprecedented growth. Scaling up for the legions of player heroes who will be joining the fight is key to providing an excellent experience. This applies to all of our players, old and new, so we’re taking the time to get this right.”

To make up for the delay, Epic Games has announced that it’s slashing 50 percent off the Standard, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Limited Founder’s packs for “Fortnite Save The World.” This means that the cheapest version of “Save The World” will be $20, according to GameSpot. No exact date was given as to when the price will be discounted, but it should happen sometime later this week.

In addition to discounting the price of “Fortnite Save The World,” current and new players of the mode are also getting some freebies. Epic Games said that they will be giving the Skull Ranger Ramirez and Brainiac Jonsey heroes to anyone that logs into “Save The World” during the Fortnitemares Halloween in-game event, which the developer has been teasing these past few days. The developer didn't provide a new timeframe as to when the free-to-play version of "Save The World" will be available.

Epic Games has also announced that “Fortnite Save The World” is getting some front-end improvements. The user interface of the game has been reorganized so that players will be able to easily find what they’re looking for. The developer also said that it will be adding some polish and characters to the menu. Epic said that it will provide more insight to these changes “in the next few months.” Lastly, Epic Games introduced an updated Hero System in “Save The World.”

“This system has been redesigned to offer a more flexible approach to customizing your loadout with more options and room for creativity. You’ll have a total of six Hero slots to manage up from the previous three. First choosing a main Hero to command and up to five additional which will determine your perks and traits,” Epic Games explained. “We’re looking to expand the variety of loadouts you can create - putting the tools in your hands to make meaningful new decisions.”