Fortnite: Battle Royale Announce 50-vs-50 mode for a Limited Time

Epic Games have announced a new limited-time game mode for Fornite: Battle Royale called 50-versus-50.

In this game mode, the player can form up to a four-person squad that is then put on a team of 50 players. Your team of 50 is pitted against a rival team as they work to slowly eliminate each other. The final goal is to wipe out the entire enemy team. Players can identify anyone on their team with a green chevron, can heal anyone on their team with healing items, and cannot hurt each other in friendly fire.

Epic Games is hoping that the new mode will spark creative and interesting ways the players will use the building mechanic, something that is almost never utilized in the standard Battle Royale game mode. The trailer (seen above) seems to indicate some strong possibilities towards using teamwork-based building to make some powerful assaults.

Battle Royale was the first major scale competition in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), which skyrocketed the genre into fame earlier this year. PUBG recently had a major update, introducing a new map, new UI, and new gameplay mechanics like vaulting. 50-versus-50's release timing is either in an effort to pull attention away from PUBG or a very poorly planned release date.

The catch is the new mode's limited availability. Players can try out 50-versus-50 starting today and go until December 17, which is 9 days from now. This game mode may be what separates it from PUBG as something worth trying, so this times exclusivity may boost initial player count, but I expect it to drop hard after its gone.

Fortnite: Battle Royale, and its 50-versus-50 mode, is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One for free. The 50-versus-50 mode will no longer be available after December 17.