'Fortnite' Server Issue Update: Squads Return Following Problematic Weekend
"Fortnite" has finally reactivated squads following a rough weekend filled with queue issues and server outages. Players can now go in teams of three or four people once again on the game's Battle Royale server after it was disabled on Saturday night.
The problem first appeared as early as Friday night with players experiencing login issues and struggling to get into a game. The problems continued to grow even worse the following day prompting Epic Games to undergo server maintenance.
The game's official Twitter account said that there were a few issues affecting login rates and matchmaking. The same account later tweeted, "Players will be temporarily unable to login to "Fortnite" while we work through an issue with our database. Thank you for your patience!"
However, despite discovering the issue, Epic Games was unable to provide a quick fix. Even worse is that in their efforts to provide a solution, they inadvertently created new ones.
Eventually, Epic Games pushed through a client update to improve overall stability to the game this was subsequently followed by a second update to re-enable several playlists for Battle Royale players. While the servers were slowly brought back online, players were placed into a queue to log back in allowing for a smooth recovery.
It was during this recovery that Squad Play was also taken offline temporarily to improve performance as it puts extra strain on the game's servers and databases. However, Epic Games later posted that they cannot say when Squad Play will be brought back online leaving many to wonder when the feature will be brought back. It was not until Monday that players got the news they were waiting for when Epic Games announced that Squad Play is finally back online.
It appears that success is now a double edged sword for many developers, particularly for indie titles who are often strapped for resources and therefore unprepared for the surge of players on their servers. Hopefully, Epic Games have learned their lesson and prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
"Fortnite" is currently available for the PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Mac OS.