One of the reasons why
Fortnite continues to
be so popular is because developer
Epic Games is putting in a lot of man- and woman-hours updating the title, constantly adding new features and stomping out bugs nearly as quickly as they appear (there's a lesson here,
Bethesda). That's the case with the latest update, which also introduces some performance enhancements on various devices. On select iPhones, for example, there is an option to run the game at 60 frames per second.
The Fortnite version 6.31 patch apparently includes optimizations for Apple's burly A12 Bionic silicon, as found on the recently introduced iPhone XS,
iPhone XS Max, and
iPhone XR. All three of those devices have the new 60 fps option in the Video menu.
Hitting 60 fps in Fortnite is not unheard of—powerful consoles like the
PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One X can maintain 60 fps as well—but it is the first time on mobile. The game runs at 30 fps on the
Nintendo Switch and, for the time being, all
Android phones. We suspect a future update will enable 60 fps on some Android devices, but for now it's capped at half that.
Outside of the iPhone, Epic Games says the latest updates improves "level streaming performance on Xbox One and Switch (improving building load times during skydiving)." The developer also fixed an issue where players would receive points during warmup island, which would later be removed. A few of the other bug fixes include:
- Fixed an issue where controller input would become unresponsive when trying to send a whisper to a friend.
- Fixed a crash on PS4 that happened when attempting to manually leave a party while in the process of joining another party.
- Increased the Dynamite explosion height against players from 192 units to 300 units (this was done to prevent players from being able to jump over the explosion area on flat ground without taking damage).
- Fixed an issue where the Glider in-air audio cue wouldn’t play for players who glide in after respawning.
- Fixed a crash on Nintendo Switch that occasionally occurred when logging in for the first time.
- Fixed an issue where player nameplates disappear after scrubbing a replay.
The update adds some new weapons and items as well, including new Epic and Legendary pump shotguns, a mounted turret, and stink bombs added to supply drops.
Fortnite players will also find a new limited time mode (LTM) called Team Rumble. The goal is to be the first team to eliminate 100 enemies.