Everything we know about Fortnite’s High Stakes event

Fortnite’s Summer Skirmish has come to an end, and to celebrate the final week Epic hosted a blowout event at PAX West. While the show’s main draw was the competition between some of the best Fortnite players in the world, Epic also gave players a sneak peek at an upcoming in-game Fortnite event.

This new in-game Battle Royale event, called High Stakes, will feature a heist theme and introduce a few new additions. High Stakes seems to share quite a few similarities to other Fortnite events like the Birthday event, in that it will feature a variety of cosmetic rewards, unlocked through challenges. High Stakes will also include a brand new game mode much like the popular Thanos event.

While we don’t quite know all the details, we have a pretty good idea of everything that’s coming to Fortnite for the High Stakes event based on the information Epic shared at PAX.

The Getaway game mode

Fortnite’s newest game mode is all about safe cracking and high stakes heists. Several teams will drop onto the map, all with the same goal: steal the prized crystal llama from a safe. Once your team arrives at the safe, one player will have to pick the lock, then carry the llama all the way back to your team’s getaway van.

The Getaway is a complete departure from the game we all know and further proof that the ground work of Fortnite can be used for just about anything. We’ll have to wait for the patch notes on Wednesday morning for all the details on the new mode, like how re-spawning will work and how many players are in each game.

The new grapple gun

That’s right, along with the new event, Fortnite is getting a brand new weapon, but this one isn’t going to be doing much damage. Instead, the grapple gun, as its name suggests, will provide players with a quick and easy way to scale walls and reach high up places.

The grappling gun will have seven shots, and takes up an inventory slot like a traditional weapon. It also appears that the weapon will be available in both the Getaway game mode and all of the game’s standard Battle Royale modes, based on the video that Epic released.

The Challenges

Epic revealed that the High Stakes event would have a few challenges associated with it. The first challenge asks players to play 10 matches of The Getaway game mode, and will reward them with 5,000 XP. The second challenge is to deal 500 damage to an opponent carrying the jeweled llama, while the third challenge will have players pick up the jewel themselves in five different Getaway matches. If players complete all three challenges, they’ll unlock a special heist-themed, crowbar gathering tool.

Skins and a new glider

A new skin, dubbed the Wild Cardm is on the way to commemorate the event in the form of a white suite and a masked character with a few different mask options. It’s unclear if you will have to purchase this skin or if it will simply be given to players for participating in the event. Also coming along with the event as an in-game cosmetic is a new glider, which looks like a safe, and unfolds into the traditional Fortnite glider shape.

Release Date

Fortnite’s High Stakes event starts Thursday, Sept. 6. Just like all Fortnite patches, this one should go live at 4 a.m. ET with servers coming back online a few hours after that. It’s probably a safe bet that it will go at least two weeks.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this piece stated that High Stakes would go live on Wednesday. Since then, Epic has delayed the release of the patch until a day later on Thursday, Sept. 6.