Fortnite's New Close Encounters Mode Replaced Again

Fortnite's latest limited-time mode has been temporarily postponed. Shortly after the Close Encounters event began, Epic Games announced on Twitter that an issue had been discovered and the mode was being disabled across all platforms--PS4, Xbox One, PC, and iOS--while the developer investigated it. [Update: Close Encounters was briefly live again, but Epic has acknowledged players' concerns with it and replaced it with Solid Gold v2 again.]

Close Encounters was slated to be the second new limited-time mode in Fortnite: Battle Royale this week, following on the heels of Solid Gold v2, which began with the release of the 4.2 content update. In contrast to Solid Gold, Close Encounters mode focuses on "close quarters combat" and only features shotguns and the newly added jetpacks.

Epic hasn't provided any further details on the unspecified issue it discovered in Close Encounters, only noting that the mode has been taken out of the rotation while it works to address the problem. Likewise, the developer didn't announce a time frame for when Close Encounters will return in the game.

In the meantime, players can still take part in the aforementioned Solid Gold v2, which will still be available in the rotation for a limited time. Like the previous iteration of the mode, every weapon that drops in Solid Gold is of the Legendary variety, and certain items like the Chug Jug, Launchpad, and Special Grenades spawn more frequently.

On top of jetpacks, Epic recently added a new set of weekly challenges for Battle Pass owners; you can check out our guide on how to complete the Week 4 challenges. Additionally, the developer recently outlined some of the new features and content on the way to Fortnite, including a Playground mode that has respawns and friendly fire. Fortnite will also have a presence at E3 2018.