Fortnite is getting a new 'Playground' mode with respawns and llamas

In the latest Fortnite 'State of Development' blogpost, Epic Games has announced a forthcoming limited time mode in the form of Playground (v1). Departing dramatically from the format of previous Fortnite modes, Playground resembles Minecraft more than it does, say, a battle royale. And there are loads of llamas too, apparently, though stats and challenges won't be tracked.

"Battle and build to your heart's content with an extended period of time to roam around the map as well as increased resource generation," reads the description. "All treasure chests and ammo crates will be spawned, try droppin’ in different spots and scope out the loot. Friendly fire is on so you can scrimmage with your squad (up to 4 friends per match), but fear not you’ll respawn immediately."

In other game mode news, Epic is "evaluating" the possibility of adding a 50v50 mode permanently.

There are a bunch of incoming quality of life changes. The Victory Royale screen will be revamped to look a bit more celebratory, while the studio is also "investigating ways to display an in-world marker to allow for easier navigation around the island." Elsewhere, challenge progress notifications are forthcoming, the spectator user interface will be improved, and tweaks are being made to the replay functionality.

Some performance improvements are also in-progress. You can read the full update over here. Or you could go muck around with the limited-time jetpack that launched in Fortnite this week. Your choice.