'Fortnite' Respawn Vans Leak Shows Epic Games Is Copying 'Apex Legends'
If these new rumors are true, then they're quite telling.
by Corey PlanteThe start of Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 8 introduced a new ping system that feels like it was copied straight from competitor Apex Legends. Now, it looks like Fortnite developer Epic Games might be copying yet another Apex Legends feature by activating new respawn vans.
Since Season 8 began last Thursday, whenever players enter Replay mode to view their matches, they can see peculiar new vehicles at certain spots around the map. These vehicles appear in fixed locations, but they don’t appear in active matches. This rarely happens in Fortnite, and it could be an indication that they’ll become an active part of the game with the upcoming version 8.10 update due out sometime this week.
Fortnite data-miner @FortTory recently discovered code in the game’s files labeled “SC_Machine” that extrapolates to “second chance machine.” The assumption is that they’re connected to these vans, now dubbed “Second Chance Vans,” but how would they work?
I looks like players can put some kind of card in the back of the van.
Twitter user @Lucas7yoshi also discovered a “Second Chance Card” that resembles the icon appearing on the van screens in the game.
The overall assumption is that in Duos and Squads, players will drop a Second Chance Card upon death. Their teammates can then use the card at the Second Chance Van to respawn their allies.
Apex Legends fans will immediately recognize this system because it’s identical to the Respawn Beacons. Upon death, allies drop a banner in Apex Legends that can be redeemed at Respawn Beacons to bring them back to life.
We previously wrote about how Fortnite stole the ping system from Apex Legends. While it’s true that Fortnite: Save the World already had some semblance of this ping functionality before Apex Legends was ever released, it’s telling that Epic Games didn’t implement it into Fortnite: Battle Royale until after everyone was praising Apex Legends.
With Fortnite probably adopting an identical respawn system, it’s become abundantly clear that Epic Games is paying close attention to what works in Apex Legends and is looking to copy the successes of its top competitor to avoid losing any more players.
As of this writing, the details of this new system is mere speculation, but it could be added to the game any day now. Perhaps as part of the same update that introduces “buried treasure”?
Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 8, Week 2 begins Thursday, March 7.
