Fortnite Brings Back Building, to Offer No-Build Alternative via Fortnite Zero Build

Fortnite — Epic Games' cross-platform battle royale game — has reintroduced building, after it was removed at the start of Chapter Three, Season Two. Building is one of the most notable elements of the free-to-play title, which competes with popular games like Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and Call of Duty: Warzone/ Mobile, neither of which offer building. Epic Games says that gamers will be able to choose between the regular Battle Royale mode that will offer building, and Fortnite: Zero Build that will continue to offer a no build mode.

Epic Games announced the return of building to Fortnite on Saturday, two weeks after the ability to build structures in the game was "wiped out” at the start of Chapter Three, Season Two, on March 20. Over the past two weeks, Fortnite offered gamers a series of quests to help bring back building to Fortnite, including visiting various landmarks and locating blueprints located around the island. On March 29, Fortnite added dedicated Zero Build modes for Solo, Duos, Trios, and Squad modes in the game, days before building was added back to the game.

Building on Fortnite distinguishes the game from competing battle royale games by allowing players to construct basic structures such as walls, floors, stairs, and roofs. In order to build, gamers must harvest metal, stone, and wood, by destroying various objects on the island. Gamers can also pick up building materials harvested by another player after eliminating them in the game. Fortnite also allows gamers to “edit” a structure, for example by adding a door. Structures made of wood build the fastest, while metal takes the longest, giving players the ability to quickly heal or reload before taking on a player nearby.

In order to make up for the protection offered by building, Fortnite had introduced an "overshield” which recharges over time. With the ability to build ramps to climb on top of structures removed, Fortnite had also introduced faster sprinting, and the ability to quickly climb over walls and single storey structures. While these abilities will continue to remain available in no building mode which is now a dedicated part of the Fortnite playlists, Epic Games has not revealed whether Fortnite Zero Build will be a permanent addition to the battle royale title.