Fortnite, the smash hit free-to-play battle royale success from Epic Games, is finally adding Ranked play in the latest 24.40 patch, which launches this week on May 16th.
Replacing the current Arena game mode, Ranked will allow competitive players to level up across Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Elite, Champion, and Unreal ranks to prove their Fortnite chops against other skilled players.
Ranked play in Fortnite will adopt a seasonal model, making its debut in Ranked Season Zero, which kicks off when the patch drops and runs until the end of Battle Royale Chapter 4 Season 3, with Epic saying it’ll be using this initial run to make any adjustments to issues and concerns that might crop up, while also working on additional features and overall improvements with an eye to Ranked inevitably following the normal Battle Royale Season schedule.
Existing players will be granted a starting rank as of the mode’s launch that’s based on a combination of past performance, and performance in their very first Ranked Battle Royale or Ranked Zero Build match.
Players’ rank progress will go up or down according to the following factors:
- Match placement
- How many eliminations players or their team got in the match
- Eliminations later in the match will count more than eliminations earlier in the match.
- The ranks of the players eliminated will be taken into account.
Player ranks will naturally influenced matchmaking in Ranked matches, and will also offer unique quests and rewards for those that participate, so there’s definitely cause to engage in Ranked play in Fortnite beyond the bragging rights of reaching the company of those in the Elite, Champion and Unreal crowds.
You can read a whole lot more about Ranked play in Fortnite, how it works, what to expect and what other changes are coming in this week’s 24.40 update right here.
