Epic Games has been giving Fortnite players new features consistently, even when the players don’t actually request them. But, one long-requested feature has so far been neglected by the developer, until now. If you haven’t yet guessed it – I am talking about the Fortnite Gifting, a perfect feature ahead of the holidays.
Fortnite gifting – how it works?
Epic introduced Fortnite Gifting as part of the version 6.31 update. The feature, however, is not available on the iOS because Apple policy prohibits it. For now, Epic has added the feature temporarily, for one week. But, considering that players have long been asking for the feature, it is expected to stay at least till the holidays or Epic will re-launch the updated feature based on the user feedback.
“We know that many of you have been eagerly awaiting a gifting feature and today we’re excited to announce that for a limited time we’ll be offering it with the release of our 6.31 update! This initial gifting period will last one week after the release of the update,” Epic says in a blog post.
To use the feature go into the Item Shop and select an item to purchase, you will get two options – buy for yourself or “Buy As A Gift.” On selecting the gift option, you get another screen prompting you to choose a friend to whom you want to gift that item. You are also allowed to write a custom message with the gift.
Once you send it, your friend will get a gift box with the item you gifted inside it. “After that, you’re done! Your friend will receive a gift box with the item the next time they log in,” Epic says.
You can gift the item to anyone, but Epic has laid down a few prerequisites to ensure that the feature is not misused. First, you must have enabled multi-factor authentication on your account; second, you can only send gifts to players whom you have been friends with for at least 48 hours; third, you can only gift three items in a 24 hour period.
Once you purchase a gift item, it is not refundable. Also, you can only gift the items actively available in the Item Shop. Moreover, if you don’t want to receive any gifts (you will be the rarest of all), Epic has added an option to turn off the ability to receive gifts.
Other new additions
Apart from Fortnite Gifting, the 6.31 update adds the Team Rumble Limited Time Mode (LTM). It involves two teams of 20 players, who will fight each other. The first team to reach 100 eliminations will be the winner. To make things exciting, players will respawn five seconds after they are killed. Also, they will get to keep their inventory after they re-join.
Further, the update also adds two new rarities of the Pump Shotgun – Epic and Legendary. The new guns can do 105 and 110 maximum damage respectively. These new Pump Shotguns will be available on floor loot, chests, Supply Drops and Vending Machines. Epic Games, however, has removed the Double Barrel Shotgun from floor loot.
Epic has also made a change to another weapon, Dynamite, which was only recently added. Players will now be able to pick up the Dynamite (that has been thrown) and throw it back. This can be done using the interact button/key when you are near dynamite.
Apple iOS users may not have Fortnite Gifting, but Epic has added support for 60fps for the new iPhones – iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR – with the new update. It is the highest possible frame rate on mobile devices. It will be interesting to see if Epic adds the same support to premium Android devices, like the Galaxy Note 9, or the gaming phones like the Razer Phone 2 and Asus ROG Phone.
Thanks to such new features, Fortnite has reportedly crossed 200 million players across all the platforms, including PC/Mac, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS, Android and Switch. Earlier this year, Epic revealed that the game had 40 million players. A growth of 160 million players within a year is surely phenomenal.
Fortnite is a free-to-play game on mobile with in-app purchases of items like weapons, clothing and more. Developer Epic reportedly earns millions from these in-app purchases, and now, with the addition of the gift feature, the revenues will further jump. The game was launched on iOS first, while it arrived on Android only recently (alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9).
