Fornite jetpacks are now a thing. Well, they will be soon at least. After being delayed to work out the kinks, Fortnite‘s Twitter accounted tweeted that the propulsion packs will be coming to the game tomorrow at 5 AM PST as a part of its big 4.2 update.
Fortnite‘s tweet about the subject finally gives players a date to the delayed feature. A hunting rifle took its place which is, decidedly, not a jetpack. Epic Games delayed the jetpack back in February in order to correct a “last minute design issue.” While no more detail was given, this delay was probably to avoid another issue similar to the guided missile launcher. Epic chose to remove the controversial item back in April after many players expressed their displeasure with the weapon’s balance.
The jetpack will be a limited item and not an item in a jetpack-only mode. This could be to warp balance in a fun way that doesn’t stick around long enough to be annoying. Thanos, who was added to the game to coincide with Avengers: Infinity War, was similarly only in the game for a limited time. He messed with the game’s balance but only being the game for a week kept it from being a big problem, even though they had to nerf him.
FNBRLeaks on Twitter was able to deduce the imminent release of jetpacks only a few days ago. By digging through the game’s files, they were able to find “jetpacks” along with a limited time mode called “Close Encounters.” This mode is alleged to only give players shotguns and jetpacks.
Being able to boost around would probably turn the building mechanics on their head since hiding would be a lot harder. Regardless of how broken or fun they are, Fortnite jetpacks are a good idea that will probably keep this popular game exciting for its huge fanbase.
