The balance state of Fortnite is clearly questionable at the moment, but that does stop developer Epic Games from constantly adding new updates to its hit battle royale. Yesterday, the company announced that the next patch, which is scheduled to roll out next week, will add a major new feature that will drastically change the gameplay: The Reboot Vans. These vans are found at various locations on the map and allow you to resurrect fallen teammates.
This feature was brought to popularity by Apex Legends, and it will work in a similar manner in Fortnite: When a player gets eliminated, they’ll drop a Reboot Card, which any of their teammates can pick up and bring to a Reboot Van to restore the fallen to life.
However, according to Epic, using Reboot Vans comes with a risk. Once a van is activated, it emits a loud honking sound similar to the one that the Battle Bus makes at the beginning of each match. Furthermore, it also unleashes a pillar of light to the sky and let other players in the surrounding areas know how many people are being restored.
A demonstration of how the respawn mechanic works
Ever since season 8 began, many fans have speculated about a new respawn mechanic when they saw vans appearing in the replay mode. They immediately guessed (correctly) that these vans are respawn points, especially considering that Apex Legends launched with the feature just a couple of weeks earlier.
Right now, it’s not clear how this new addition will affect the gameplay of Fortnite. Previously, the developers removed health-on-kill as they said it was leading to excessively aggressive plays. But now that a fallen player can be brought back, it might be an indicator that Epic thinks the game can support a more aggressive style, since deaths are no longer as punishing.
The Reboot Van will come as part of patch 8.30, which is planned to launch next week on either the 9th or the 10th.