If you hated building in Fortnite, the new season just got rid of it

It’ll probably come back soon enough, but enjoy the freedom for now

Building in Fortnite has been turned off for the brand new season of the game, which just debuted over the weekend. The biggest change? Building is gone. And I have to say, I love it!

PC-quick-building is one of the lapsed playerbase’s big pet peeves, and with this gone, the action is focused entirely on maneuvering and shooting. It would be silly to go so far as to say that it makes the game feel “fresh,” but I was able to acclimate very quickly, and even in my first game with Chapter 3 Season 2, I didn’t feel the muscle-memory urge to build. Not doing it felt natural.

Smartly, Epic Games is incorporating a story reason for why building in Fortnite isn’t a thing anymore (implying it will return once you discover the magical reason why it’s happening, and thwart the enemy faction’s [IO] plans); and in competitive modes, building is intact (“building is unaffected in competitive/Arena playlists as well as in Team Rumble and Creative Islands” as per Epic). So it’s not a bold 100% gambit, but welcome all the same.

And with a new season comes a new battle pass, with Doctor Strange at the top (with Spiderverse‘s Prowler coming at a later date, similar to the Queen, or The Rock in previous passes). The new sprinting and jumping system is very reminiscent of the animations in Crackdown, as players can now basically clamber up buildings through sheer force of will.

The full rundown is available on Epic’s site.