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Epic Games will pause 'Fortnite' updates ahead of events to help pros

The changes will coincide with the upcoming tournament at the Australian Open.

Epic Games is changing the way it handles Fortnite patches to give pros more time to adjust to game-impacting tweaks. Competitive players can now expect updates to arrive a few days to a week prior to a tournament so as not to catch anyone by surprise, the developer said in a blog post. The changes will come into effect with the Fortnite Summer Smash event at the Australian Open on January 26th, which Epic says will use the core Battle Royale modes.

"Fortnite will continue to update every week, however for major, official Fortnite competitions we may adjust for competitive needs," the post concludes. The announcement is the result of feedback gathered from pros over the last six months of competitive play. In the past, the Fortnite community has lambasted game-breaking weapons like the overpowered Compact SMG and Infinity Blade, forcing the developer to either nerf or remove them altogether.

Now it seems Epic is finally conceding that its frequent update schedule is having a negative impact on the competitive Fortnite scene. It's promising to "continue to take into account" the need for stability around tournaments throughout the course of this year.