Fortnite 5.3 update: Epic Games news on server downtime plans and new item

The new Fortnite 5.3 update will mean server downtime

The new Fortnite 5.3 update will mean server downtime (Image: EPIC GAMES)

It has now been confirmed that there will be downtime tomorrow, August 23.

This is to make way for the Fortnite 5.3 update, likely to be a big patch on all platforms.

Epic Games haven’t provided a complete list of what will be included in the new patch, but they have confirmed one new item is being released.

Teased in the Fortnite ‘new updates’ screen this week, Epic Games has announced a new game-changing tool.

The Rift-To-Go item was officially unveiled earlier this week and has a tag reading “coming soon”.

This slot is reserved for items being released in the next update, so you can expect this helpful tool to be part of the 5.3 patch.

And today the development team confirmed more on the details of the new update, including the downtime needed.

The bad news is that this new update will require a scheduled maintenance of servers.

Fortnite players have been warned that downtime will start at 9am, BST and will mean the game going offline.

It should also be noted that the players usually start to see themselves booted from live games around 20 minutes before maintenance begins.

So be ready for some disruption if you’re are playing at around that time.

Downtime usually last a few hours, so fans can expect Fortnite to be down till around 11am, BST.

The good news is that Epic Games usually release patch notes during scheduled maintenance, so fans should know all about what’s being added to the game before they rejoin servers.

There are high hopes for a new range of bugfixes for both Battle Royale mode and Save the World, which has been suffering from some serious technical glitches.

“Shake it up with a new item coming to Battle Royale in Patch v5.30,” a message from Epic Games reads.

“Downtime starts tomorrow, August 23 at 4 AM ET (0800 GMT).”

Epic Games have also warned that tomorrow will also be the last day of the Sniper Shootout LTM.

It hasn’t been announced whether something else will be taking its place, or if fans will have to wait until next week for a new limited time mode.

It also looks like there will be some changes for the Pump Shotgun, which have already seen a number of buffs and nerfs over the previous months.

Design Lead Eric Williamson hinted on Twitter that plans were afoot for the weapon, tweeting: “Regarding shotgun equip times: current thinking is to reduce Pump Shotgun equip time slightly in update 5.30 next week.

“Other shotguns will remain unchanged for now.”

Other changes are also going to be included, with some new bugfixes already primed.

Fans can also expect a lot of new skins to be revealed by data miners, as this is usually the time that new outfits are added to the game.

These will probably be skins that will be sold in the item shop, and won’t be part of the current battle pass.

New items like the Rift-to-go will make their debut tomorrow

New items like the Rift-to-go will make their debut tomorrow (Image: EPIC GAMES)

The only exception to this could be the new Road Trip skin, which is likely to be launched next week by Epic Games.

There are also rumours that a new LTM will be released at some point called ‘Velocity’.

Not much is known about this new mode, but it appears that players will be able to redeploy Gliders when falling from large heights.

It’s also expected that extra Impulse Grenades, Bounce Pads and ATKs will be spawned throughout the map.

The biggest change in gameplay will be that the storm will reportedly move twice as fast, making for even quicker encounters.

Recent reports have also suggested that the development team are set to remove the in-game rifts currently featured in Fortnite Battle Royale.

However, newly leaked information suggests that Epic Games may have even bigger plans for them in season 5.

Having played a significant role in the closing of season 4 and the opening of season 5, the rifts are expected to close this week.

Meanwhile, this theory has been contradicted by another, which states that the rifts won’t close until performing one last major event.

The new rumour is that the rift will actually end up taking the map back in time, affecting key landmarks around the map.

It sounds a lot like rumours being shared during season 4 and aren’t ones that have been backed up with a lot of evidence.

So they should be taken with a big pinch of salt, until we find out more of what Epic Games has planned.

According to the online leaks, this big season 5 event is scheduled to happen next week on all platforms.