Fortnite's incoming double barrel shotgun sounds like a 'double pump' replacement

The double barrel shotgun, a videogame classic since 1994, is coming to Fortnite Battle Royale. Evidence of the new weapon was dug up yesterday by XDA dataminers, and confirmed earlier today in the game. 

A two-shot boomstick is a common break-action shotgun in Fortnite: Save the World, but it hasn't made an appearance in Battle Royale yet. Details of the Battle Royale weapon, beyond what's in the tweet—"New Epic and Legendary shotgun that can be fired twice in rapid succession"—haven't been revealed, but based on that description it will be a rather more rare and valuable weapon than its StW counterpart. 

The shotgun could be Epic's attempt to bring back the 'double pump' tactic, where players would pick up two pump shotguns, fire one, and switch to the other instantly for some of the highest DPS in the game. It has since been patched out; a short delay was added when switching between pump shotguns. The double barrel's ability to fire two successive shots appears to perform a similar function in spirit, this time in the form of a single weapon for easy tweaking. 

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The datamining that uncovered the shotgun also stumbled upon a "heavy sniper" rifle with a slow reload time that's capable of penetrating walls. That's pretty close to unofficial confirmation that the discovery of a wall-punching sniper rifle a couple of weeks ago was legit.   

There's no word from Epic yet on when the new weapons will go live, but the 5.20 update is set to roll out tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised to see them included. 

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Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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