Fortnite Save The World Exits Early Access With Big Changes In Tow

Today is a big day for the Fortnite brand, but for the first time in a long while, we're actually talking about Save the World and not Battle Royale. Fortnite, as many will remember, got its start with the PvE-focused Save the World and only shot to fame after Epic rolled out its much more popular Battle Royale mode. Still, throughout the past couple of years, Epic has been developing Save the World alongside Battle Royale, and now the original Fortnite game mode has hit a big development milestone.

Epic announced today that Save the World has exited early access after almost three years in development. In even bigger news, the company also announced that it won't transition Save the World to a free-to-play game as it originally planned to. Instead, it'll "remain a premium experience," presumably continuing to cost the same $39.99 it did during early access.

"All paid Founders will have their Founder's Packs upgraded to the next level and unlock all the rewards included in the upgraded pack... free, courtesy of Homebase," Epic wrote today. "Ultimate Edition owners will be granted the new Metal Team Leader Pack and 8,000 V-Bucks."

Epic also says now that Save the World is out of early access, the development of new content will slow down. Beyond that, the company says that eventually Save the World will no longer support all Battle Royale cosmetic purchases, though it does note that "your existing library of cosmetics will continue to function in both modes." We're left waiting on Epic for more on when that change will be implemented.

Additionally, Epic announced a new feature called Ventures today, which should help will long-term replayability. "Ventures is a new season-long excursion that takes place in a seasonal zone with new and unique modifiers to tackle," Epic said. "Each Venture season brings in a path of continued progression and fresh seasonal levels to climb."

With the launch of Ventures, Epic is also moving Save the World to "an annual recurring season scheduled where existing in-game narratives and events, such as Frostnite and Dungeons, will continue on a seasonal rotation unique to Save the World and separate from Battle Royale." During those annual rotations, we'll see new quests and heroes added periodically, though at a slower pace than what we saw in early access.

So, it sounds like Save the World is exiting early access will some big changes. It isn't surprising to hear that Epic plans to slow the release of new content for Save the World, as Battle Royale is definitely going to be the company's primary focus. Still, we'll see what happens from here regarding Save the World, so stay tuned for more.