Fortnite fans have been soaring through the skies this week thanks to the addition of jetpacks, the first item in the new 'backpack' category. Yesterday, Epic Games launched a temporary game mode showcasing the new devices called Close Encounters—but had to disable it less than an hour later.
The mode makes jetpacks far more common, and replaces all weapon drops with shotguns, the hope being that players will zoom around and blast each other at close range. But Epic quickly took it down, saying it was investigating "issues" with the mode. It instead enabled Solid Gold, a mode that guarantees legendary weapon drops.
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It didn't specify the "issues", but users on this Reddit thread were reporting that ammo types other than shotguns shells were spawning in the world, and that they weren't able to play solo games.
The mode was then reinstated overnight, but those player-reported problems persist, according to the comments in this thread. You can't play solo games, which people seem particularly miffed about, and you'll find non-shotgun ammo in the world. I suppose that means there was another reason that Epic disabled the mode. It still sounds fun, and I might jump in for a game or two later today.
Following Close Encounters, Epic is planning to add a 'Playground' mode with friendly fire, respawns, extra loot and lots of llamas. Read all about it here.
