Fortnite Save the World will not go free-to-play in 2018

In April, Luke Winkie wrote about how Fortnite PvE fans feel about Battle Royale taking over the game they love. It's true: Save the World is often overshadowed by its BR counterpart—something which might subside somewhat when the former also goes free-to-play. Epic has announced this however won't happen this year. 

In a blog post, the developer says it's working on a "broad set of features, reworks, and backend system scaling" that it believes are crucial for going free-to-play. At present, these aren't ready, and while Save the World has grown since launch in July 2017, "scaling up for the legions of player heroes who will be joining the fight is key to providing an excellent experience". As such, Epic is in no rush to strike this balance right. 

Elsewhere, Save the World is getting an overhauled Hero System which should grant players more flexibility and customisation of loadouts. Hero slots will double from three to six, and Epic says it's "looking to expand the variety of loadouts you can create". Details on that are yet to be finalised, but Epic says it'll have more to reveal soon. 

Fortnite Save the World's latest 'State of Development' blog post can be read in full here. While players wait for the PvE mode's free-to-play incarnation, Epic says Standard, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Limited Founder's packs will go for 50 percent less their normal price this week.