Everything That’s Happened Since Fortnite Launched Chapter 4

Fortnite dropped its hotly-anticipated Chapter 4 update earlier this week, moving the game to the new Unreal Engine 5.1 architecture. The update has led to many positive changes within the game. Mechanically, new movement options and a new system of random character upgrades have dominated the conversation. Visually, the game has also recieved a major overhaul, turning game that was already very pretty into one of the most beautiful games available anywhere.

However, any new Fortnite update is not without its share of community controversy. There are a few aspects of the Fortnite Chapter 4 update that are irking players, so I thought I’d collate two of the biggest ones and then end on a positive note.

Here’s what’s happened since Fortnite launched Chapter 4 this week.

Epic Unvaulted, Then Pulled, An Old Snoop Dogg Emote

If you’re a regular Fortnite player, you may have noticed lately that Epic has recently introduced a new section in the Item Shop. It’s called Vaulted For A Year Or More, and it’s exactly what it says on the tin: an effort to get older, and often rarer, cosmetics back in the rotation. For years, fans have tracked Item Shop rarities through various sites, keeping tabs on skins and other cosmetics that have been gone the longest.

This week, Fortnite updated this section to feature an old Snoop Dogg emote called ‘Tidy’, a reference to his 2004 song “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” If you’ve seen any online meme videos in the last 10 years or so, you’ll almost certainly know this dance. It’s this one:

The dance, along with several accompanying items from the 70’s themed Flower Power skin set, were removed from the store several hours later. Epic acknowledged this disappearance via its social media accounts but did not elaborate on why the section was removed.

We’re aware the ‘Vaulted a Year or More’ section was briefly present in and is now missing from tonight’s Item Shop. We’ll continue to offer different versions of this section in the future. pic.twitter.com/nf0UsSYhwe

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) December 6, 2022

As a result, we can only really speculate on why Epic pulled the section. The prevailing theory is that it strayed just a little too close to what might be considered Weed-adjacent territory. In a game aimed at kids, that’s definitely not what you want.

Players are complaining about hurdling sensitivity

One of the newest additions to Fortnite Chapter 4 is the ability to automatically hurdle over low walls and other objects. The new move follows other changes to locomotion through Chapter 3, like mantling, sprinting, and sliding. However, some players are finding the hurdling just a little too twitchy. Indeed, some have been sabotaged by the new mechanic, causing them to hurdle over walls to nowhere and plummet sullenly to their deaths.

Previously, the hurdle mechanic had been something players could do by pressing a button. The new automatic update has been creating a bit of conversation in the community. Many players feel the system is wound too tightly, causing them to throw games away because their character eagerly hopped over a wall and into the line of fire. Indeed, watching some of the clips floating around social media, it’s hard not to feel like the system is working against these poor players.

Players also really like the new Level 100 skin (its been a while)

It’s been a minute since Fortnite players got really excited about a Level 100 skin in the Battle Pass. Chapter 3 exclusively used its Level 100 tier to unlock Disney characters from Marvel and Star Wars — Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Darth Vader, and Spider-Gwen. Three were connected to brand tie-ins throughout the last year — Spider-man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and Obi-Wan specifically — with Spider-Gwen’s Spiderverse inspired suit being the outlier.

When Epic announced that the Doom Slayer from, er, Doom was announced for the Chapter 4, Season 1 battle pass, fans naturally assumed he would be the Level 100 skin. Not so. The Doom Slayer comes it at Level 26 this time around. Level 100 is occupied by a new character called The Ageless.

The Ageless also gets a Destiny-ass suit of armour with bladed helmet as a variant costume through further unlocks.