Fortnite developer says sorry for downtime with free treats

It's been a dark and empty day or so for Fortnite fans, with the game having been taken offline for emergency maintenance in the early hours of April 12, with no word on when it would be back. 

Well, now you can stop sitting in front of your blank TV screen, desperately and fruitlessly mashing buttons on your controller, because Epic Games has brought Fortnite back online – and it’s making an offering to apologize to players.

In a blog post the developer apologized for the day offline, stating: “We're sorry. We know how frustrating this has been.” And to reward fans for being “awesome and patient” Epic said it’s going to be giving away free treats.

Back on the Battle Bus

As recompense for their lost day Battle Royale players will receive Back Bling, which can be accessed at the in-game store for free, while Save the World players will find a Troll Stash Llama in the loot tab.

And that’s just this week's goodies – next week Epic says it’ll be giving a pack of Battle Stars to Battle Royale players, while Save the World players will receive Seasonal Gold. Distributing these will require a little more downtime, but Epic says it'll be “including it as part of [its] planned update next week” to avoid fans completely losing their heads. 

As for what actually caused the downtime, Epic hasn’t confirmed this yet, but it's said it’ll publish a detailed blog post on the issues, and how it plans to stop them happening again, later next week.

TOPICS
Emma Boyle

Emma Boyle is TechRadar’s ex-Gaming Editor, and is now a content developer and freelance journalist. She has written for magazines and websites including T3, Stuff and The Independent. Emma currently works as a Content Developer in Edinburgh.

Latest in Consoles & PC
Playing games on the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma without an external display.
The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma offers Steam Deck owners a premium design and, of course, plenty of RGB
The Hori Split Pad Pro attached to a Nintendo Switch OLED and placed on a colorful desk mat.
I've used the Hori Split Pad Pro with my Nintendo Switch for years and it's still great, but there are some better options in 2025
A tattoo studio in The Sims 4.
The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies expansion pack looks like the small business overhaul I've always wanted
Image of Grand Theft Auto 6 promotional art and Corsair's PC cases
GTA 6 could reach PCs in early 2026 according to Corsair – but I'm already sick of waiting
New Metal Gear Solid Delta screenshot from the State of Play stream.
Turns out the leak was accurate - Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater releases in August this year and the inner PS2 gamer in me cannot wait
An image of the Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo Switch 2 patent suggests you’ll be able to use the console upside down for some reason
Latest in News
A hand holding a phone showing the Android Find My Device network
Android's Find My Device can now let you track your friends – and I can't decide if that's cool or creepy
Insta360 X4 360 degree camera without lens protector
Leaked DJI Osmo 360 image suggests GoPro and Insta360 should be worried – here's why
A YouTube Premium promo on a laptop screen
A cheaper YouTube Premium Lite plan just rolled out in the US – but you’ll miss out on these 4 features
Viaim RecDot AI true wireless earbuds
These AI-powered earbuds can also act as a dictaphone with transcription when left in their case
The socket interface of the Intel Core Ultra processor
Intel unveils its most powerful AI PCs yet - new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors pack in vPro for lightweight laptops and high-performance workstations alike
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
Nvidia confirms that an RTX 5070 Founders Edition is coming... just not on launch day