15 March 2024 , 20:23
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It's been just over a week since the launch of a new season in Fortnite, and Epic Games is apparently already gearing up release the first update of Chapter 5 Season 2 one week earlier than usual – likely on Tuesday – and it could include a new Midas skin.
Chapter 5 Season 2 of Fortnite may have only kicked off last week, but Epic is planning on updating the game at the one-week mark, rather than sticking to its usual bi-weekly schedule; that's according to the ever-reliable roster of leakers in the community at least. Apparently, the first Fortnite update of the new season – v29.01 – is dropping next week, with the expected date and time to be Tuesday, March 19 at around 9am GMT / 4am EST / 1pm PST.
Epic's usual Fortnite update schedule is to roll one out every other Tuesday at around 9am GMT / 4am EST / 1pm PST, disabling matchmaking 30 minutes beforehand. So if update v29.01 is coming a week early, that's when we expect servers to go down for it. Leaker @HYPEX took to Twitter to say that the first Fortnite update of Chapter 5 Season 2 is due next week, but didn't confirm the day or time.
Meanwhile @Shiina tweeted that "it's an update requiring a downtime, but it might not be as big as a normal update," adding that it's likely tied to the spring Midas event which includes:
- Final version of the Midas skin
- The Floor is Lava game mode
- Midas-inspired version of the Drum Gun
The Floor is Lava is a limited-time mode introduced back in 2021 and rumours of its return first started last November with leakers – including @Shiima on Twitter – suggesting it could be part of the Fortnite OG season that was going on at the time. That didn't happen, although Epic confirmed that we'd see another Fortnite OG helping this year. In January, leakers then posited a new date for the Floor is Lava LTM, saying it could make a comeback this season instead.
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Either way, just don't expect the Korra skin to arrive – she'll be dropping at the beginning of April as part of the rumoured Fortnite x Avatar collab.
Fortnite update: early patch notes
While we won't know the full extent of the changes Epic has lined up for next week, we do have a good guess of what imminent Fortnite updates may hold thanks to the official Trello Board. Everything we've listed in the early patch notes below are tagged with 'fixed in future game update'; Epic usually uses the 'fixed in next update' tags to indicate changes coming in the next update – we cracked the code, people! – but nothing on the board has this tag at the time of writing.
That doesn't rule out the possibility of seeing the below implemented in the next Fortnite update, and we may see some of them adopt the tag over the course of Monday.
Locker
We're aware that the Shuffle Loadout option is currently unavailable in the new Locker UI for players to switch up their look every match. We're working on a fix for this and will update you when it's expected to return.
Battle Royale
Hurdling and Clambering on Starter Island before the Battle Bus launches can cause broken dashes while in River Styx. Please avoid Hurdling or Clambering on Starter Island until this is fixed in a future game update!
Of course, there's always a chance that Fortnite leakers are wrong or have their wires crossed, but given Shiina's near-impeccable track record over the years, we're inclined to believe their info is solid.