Fortnite Primal version 16.10 update now live and yes, it has dinosaurs
As promised, Fortnite went down in the wee hours of this morning to allow Epic to apply the game's version 16.10 update. The game is back up again with the new update applied, and it's bringing a lot of new features and additions along with it. For starters, we're finding out what those apex predators Epic teased last night are, but it probably won't be much of a shock to those who have encountered eggs in various states of hatching across the island.
It seems that Velociraptors have taken up residence on Fortnite's island, and like the other animals you'll encounter in the wilderness, Raptors can be tamed too. The fact that Epic calls them apex predators in version 16.10's patch notes (which are embedded below) suggests that Raptors are quite a bit more dangerous than the other animals on the island, so you should approach them with caution.
A new update is about to hatch.
v16.10 is scheduled for release on March 30. Downtime will begin at approx. 4 AM ET (08:00 UTC).
(1/4) pic.twitter.com/bajSRNRWKe
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 29, 2021
Epic has also made some tweaks to the crafting system with this update, saying that crafting material costs will now scale with Makeshift rarity and that Animal Bones and Mechanical Parts can appear as floor loot. That second tweak is actually a big change, because it means that players should be able to tap into Fortnite's crafting system more frequently than they could in the first two weeks of the season. Epic has also changed the Primal Shotgun, reducing its rate of fire in the hopes of reining that weapon in a bit.
So, all in all, this is a fairly small update in that the patch notes for it aren't very long, but the changes Epic has made – along with the addition of Raptors – are pretty significant. There are a lot of players out there who are hoping that the nerfs to the Primal Shotgun are enough to make it less oppressive on the battlefield, so we'll have to keep an eye out for what the new consensus is among Fortnite players.
This latest season has been dubbed Fortnite Primal by the folks over at Epic, and after the high-tech Zero Point season in which pop culture's famous hunters were brought into Fortnite, Primal is taking us back to basics. We'll probably see plenty more wild beasts and Makeshift weapons over the course of the season, so stay tuned for more.