Fortnite Party Mode confirmed following numerous leaks

By Eric Abent/

It seems that Fortnite is getting a new map and a new game mode to go along with. A number of Fortnite data miners have discovered a map apparently called Papaya lurking in Fortnite's files, and that new location seems to be home to an incoming Party Mode. Party Mode, as the name suggests, will ditch the regular Fortnite formula and be a more laid-back affair.

What's interesting is that following these leaks, Epic Games went and confirmed that Party Mode is indeed on the way. It did so in a statement to Polygon, where it said that players will ditch their weapons and building materials in this new mode. "Party Royale is a new experimental and evolving space. Leave your weapons and mats behind," the company said.

That doesn't give very much away, but a map and images discovered by Lucas7yoshi might. The map appears to be designed for a number of different activities – running, skydiving, and even soccer in one part of the map. In other words, it seems like Party Mode will be a way to hang out with friends in-game and kill some time.

At the moment, though, we have no clue how any of this will work, just that Party Mode is coming. Given Epic's statement, it seems that all of this leaked out well before Epic was ready to reveal it, so we might be waiting a while longer for some actual details about Party Mode and this new map.

If nothing else, though, this confirmation gives fans something to look forward to, particularly after Epic delayed the launch of Fortnite's chapter 2, season 3 to June. We'll let you know when Epic shares more details about Party Mode, so stay tuned for that.

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