A new sniper rifle could be coming to Fortnite

A new sniper rifle could be coming to Fortnite according to newly-datamined information.

Information from the files of the most recent v5.1 update have revealed what could well be an upcoming weapon for the battle royale title.

The leak comes from Storm Shield One, a site that has a good track record of datamining reliable information. In general, most weapons and items are datamined from previous patches pretty accurately before being announced for the game.

The heavy sniper would be the first sniper rifle added to the game since the hunting rifle, but would also be the most powerful weapon of that type to date. According to Storm Shield One it does 157 damage and 1100 to structures, and it pierces through the first wall it comes into contact with. It would only be available in Legendary rarity

The introduction of this weapon, plus recent high capacity and fire rate weapons like the Drum Gun, reflect Epic’s attempts to move the game away from a build-focused meta. If buildings can be destroyed more easily, or even ignored altogether, players will have to get more aggressive rather than staying in structures. That’s the theory, anyway.

Yesterday’s update added the Compact SMG, another high-capacity weapon, and contained nerfs to the health of wooden buildings.