In recent years, Fortnite has grown from a humble free-to-play battle royale game to an unstoppable juggernaut that has managed to survive amongst countless other games competing for your money and attention. For a while there, Fortnite was a surprisingly addictive battle royale, that overshadowed the original survival “Save the World” concept. But over the years, Epic has employed constant seasonal updates, an evolving narrative, and strategic partnerships to further boost the brand. So What’s Fortnite like in 2025? Let’s take a look!
I also just want to take a moment to shout out to the greatest Fortnite player I know: my son, Link, who helped me capture a lot of this footage and carried me to victory more times than I care to admit! Also, if you don’t have anyone on your support-a-creator, feel free to add “whatsitlike” which will help me out!
Forntite has undergone several new changes with this new season, and the first new move is One Crew, All Passes, which adds all the battle passes to the Fortnite Crew subscription. Players will now have the Battle Pass, Lego Pass, Festival Pass, and the new OG Pass all under one subscription. This helps make the Crew subscription a much more attractive offer with a lot more value added while keeping the subscription price the same.
Ballistic has tactically blasted onto the scene in first person and is Fornite’s interpretation of Counter-Strike. Players compete in a series of rounds planting and disarming a rift device while using winnings to purchase guns and equipment at the start of each round. It’s in early access at the moment, so only one map is available, but it’s well-balanced and still hasn’t outstayed its welcome. The gameplay keeps the tactical action tight and the mechanics are well polished. The no respawn limitation means players are risk averse, and usually play a much more tactical game, which ups the stakes even more. I honestly think Ballistic is an incredible game mode and I can’t wait to see future updates really flesh out this incredible experience.
OG Also makes a return and is here to stay including it’s very own battle pass. I’m not sure how this series will evolve and think it probably should have been a once-a-year type event which is what made the last one so special, but if Epic nuture it right in an almost “Warcraft Classic” style of evolution with throwback battle passes, I may very well eat my own words. The gameplay still uses the new movement mechanics but stays on the original map with the original weapons, and supply drops, and also offers a build and no build mode. I really enjoy visiting OG, but also since this new Season has had so many great changes, it sometimes does feel hard to go back to OG when we have…
Battle Royal: The tried and true and ever-evolving game mode. This season has seen some amazing improvements in traversal with new sprinting mechanics, movement, and wall jumping. This Season has a Samurai and Ninja theme and has a unique Typhoon Blade that decimates players. I’ve been on the receiving end of one too many times to count! This iteration of Battle Royale also adds sprites that offer boons and buffs should you use them or return them to shrines, as well as ghost and samurai bosses to find and defeat on the map. It feels familiar yet fresh, and returning this season has been the most fun I’ve had in Fortnite so far.
Lego Fortnite also received a huge overhaul and has been renamed “Lego Fortnite Odyssey” and adds new areas, enemies, and features to explore. Players can unite to take down the Storm King, making friends and allies along the way as you take on the Storm King and his legions, making you the hero of Lego Fortnite Odyssey. That’s not the only change with Lego, as they have added a new experience called Lego “Brick Life,” placing you in a small yet vibrant city. You can purchase property, get a job, and socialize with 31 other players. Brick Life feels a little undercooked to me at the moment, but has a solid foundation for something truly special once more content gets added.
Now that we’ve seen what’s new, let’s check out some of the recent additions and see how they are coming along…
Rocket Racing is still active on Fortnite so I decided to check it out since I only briefly played it on launch last year. I was pleasantly surprised by it. There’s over-the-top action as you race, jump, boost, and hover around a series of tracks while going head-to-head with other players. It’s really its own game in itself, and I had a great time racing around. If you haven’t visited it in a while, I recommend hopping in your rocket racer for another look.
Fortnite Festival really failed to grab my attention when it dropped last year. It’s a Guitar Hero style of game made by ex-Rock Band developers featuring a wide range of songs. Now, I’m still not 100% clear on how the song lists work as you can buy songs for 500 V-bucks, but I participated in a Festival Battle, so songs were chosen for me. This was actually really fun, and I was shredding away to Metalica and Imagine Dragons, launching attacks at other players trying not to get cut by falling below the cutoff line during sets. It was a unique way of doing it and it was fun, frantic, and unnervingly close. I managed to finish in the top 3, and I will be returning to that stage in a week or two for an upcoming video.
As a little bonus, I decided to check out the Spongebob Squarepants collaboration and played a version of “Only Up” which was quite fun. I like that there are these other experiences to check out, even if it is to have a break between battles, races, or music sets.
All in all, Fortnite in 2025 has evolved well beyond the free-to-play game that took the world by storm and has become a hub for all sorts of games, collaborations, and experiences. Fortnite is still popular as we head into 2025, and with its constant pop culture collaborations, ever-evolving story and updates, and user-generated content, it’s here to stay.
