The original game mode in Fortnite — in which players built a fort and tried to survive the night against a horde of zombies known as Husks — is now free to play after more than eight years. Epic Games made Fortnite: Save the World free to play as of Thursday, April 16.
Fortnite fans who pre-registered for Save the World‘s latest update will receive community rewards, while existing owners of the game mode get in-game Superchargers, Vouchers, and Gold. Rewards will be granted when players load into Save the World, or after completing the mode’s introduction.
Epic said in an update on Thursday that Save the World‘s progression system has been “overhauled with Schematic updates, simplified XP resources, and rewards that scale with difficulty.” The developer has also detailed changes to Homebase:
Homebase just got a massive upgrade, evolving from a menu-based hub into a fully explorable space that grows alongside your Save the World journey. As you move through its two floors, you’ll find familiar characters and spots inspired by the classic menus, with the atmosphere changing as you unlock features and make progress. It’s also a great place to regroup and hang out with your party between Missions.
Fortnite: Save the World has been sold at a variety of prices over the years, and Epic was recently selling the mode as part of a $19.99 bundle that included Fortnite V-Bucks as part of the package. When it arrived in 2017, Fortnite‘s original survival mode launched in early access for $39.99. As of Wednesday, Epic has pulled Fortnite: Save the World from digital stores as it prepares for the free-to-play relaunch in April.
Fortnite is better known for the battle royale mode that was added to the game in 2017. The original loot-built-survive game mode, later rebranded to Save the World, was in development for years before that and was publicly unveiled in 2012 at that year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. It was Epic’s first game built on Unreal Engine 4, and was originally intended for PC platforms with a path to go free to play at some point. Epic later reversed its free-to-play plan for Save the World, only for that plan to finally come full circle in 2026.
Fortnite: Save the World is free to play on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. It will also be available through game-streaming services like Amazon Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, Save the World will remain unavailable on smartphones and tablets (including through cloud gaming) and the original Nintendo Switch, Epic says.
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