Image: Epic Games
Both Battle Royale and Zero Build will now have Ranked play.
Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode is finally introducing an all-new ranked mode in its v24.40 update. The game’s older competitive Arena mode is getting disabled in favour of the new ranked system, which sorts players into different skill tiers based on their performance. And yes, you can play ranked in Zero Build too.
Players can now climb up eight skill tiers in total: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Elite, Champion and Unreal. Bronze through Diamond will have three ranks, but Elite through Unreal will only have one. You’ll have to progress through these ranks one at a time before making it to Elite, which is where the real competition begins. Anyone who hits Unreal will never fall into lower ranks in future seasons, but they will be sorted into global player standings instead.
Given the popularity of Fortnite’s Zero Build mode, both Zero Build and regular Battle Royale will have separate rank modes. Advancing through the ranks depends on match placement and enemy eliminations, with a progress bar appearing on the screen during games to make things easier for you to track. The new patch is also introducing a few balance changes to keep ranked play in check:
- Material caps will be decreased from 999 to 500.
- Harvesting rates will be slightly increased.
- Players will drop 50 of each material when they are eliminated.
Just like any other multiplayer game, Fortnite’s rank progression will play out on a seasonal basis. Ranked Season Zero ends with Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 3, and your starting rank will be based on your past performance. You only get one cosmetic reward for playing ranked mode: a ‘Burn Bright Emote’ that showcases your rank colour.
If you jump into Fortnite’s ranked mode now, you’d be just in time to check out its huge Star Wars event.
