Epic ends Fortnite Save The World’s early access, won’t make it free to play

Fortnite players are trying to rescue Save the World after Epic Games revealed today that it’s bringing the game mode out of early access. 

Earlier today in the latest Save the World development update, Epic said the game mode will remain a “premium experience” rather than going free to play, meaning that content production will be “slowed down.” Due to this change, Save the World won’t be able to support cosmetic purchases made in Fortnite: Battle Royale in a few months. 

Since Save the World is a player vs. entity game mode, it grew a small player base compared to its Battle Royale counterpart. But some fans thought it’d grow significantly if the game was free and content could be added over time. 

In 2017, Epic said Save the World would be leaving early access in 2018 and would transition to free to play. Since the game is leaving early access in 2020 but retaining its price tag, players have criticized Epic. Shortly after today’s announcement, #SaveSaveTheWorld was the top trend on Twitter. Many fans hope Epic will revert its decision. 

This isn’t the only issue players had with the announcement, however. Epic said the main story of Save the World was “complete” but players have argued the storyline was never finished. By contrast, Battle Royale’s story is going in-depth into Fortnite’s lore following The Device event earlier this month. 

For now, it looks like Save the World remains in the shadow of Fortnite: Battle Royale.