Fortnite was a very different game when it was first released in July 2017. Originally, the game was developed as a team-based shooter where players would battle zombies and rescue survivors (not unlike Left 4 Dead) while also crafting and building weapons and defensive fortifications.
That all changed when Epic Games launch the Fortnite: Battle Royale expansion. Very quickly, the 100-player free-for-all was all anyone was talking about, and the main game (which was retroactively retitled as Fortnite: Save the World) was moved to the back burner.
But Epic always planned to offer a free-to-play version of Fortnite’s Save the World mode, and it was expected to launch before the end of this year. However, the developer has now confirmed (via their official website) that it won’t be available sometime in 2019:
We decided to move the free-to-play launch of Save the World out of this year. We’re working on a broad set of features, reworks, and backend system scaling we believe are needed to go free-to-play. Save the World has grown consistently since our launch in July 2017 and Fortnite overall has experienced unprecedented growth. Scaling up for the legions of player heroes who will be joining the fight is key to providing an excellent experience. This applies to all of our players, old and new, so we’re taking the time to get this right.
To make amends for this delay, Epic also announced that players will be able to pick up Fortnite: Save the World for 50% off beginning this week when they buy one of the game’s four Founder’s Packs.
