Fortnite Adds Proximity Chat Back in a Very Limited Way
In September 2025, Fortnite added proximity chat for the first time. It was something fans had wanted for a long time, so Epic Games added a dedicated game mode, Delulu Mode, to allow it. In that mode, players could talk to nearby players via proximity chat, recruiting them to team up or to troll them. You could even join and leave teams as much as you wanted.
That mode, and ultimately the entirety of proximity chat in Fortnite, was vaulted in January 2026. Since then, players can only talk to others in party or game chat. Well, that’s no longer entirely true.
Thanks to the new Simpsons Reloaded map, proximity chat is back.
It’s only in a very limited way, but it makes perfect sense.
Fortnite restores proximity chat in the only way that makes sense
Photo via ShiinaBR on X
Fortnite has added yet another Simpsons season, this time featured in Reload mode. The Springfield map, which was a huge hit, has returned, though with some changes. Among them is
the introduction of Simpsons John Wick and the Continental.
That’s the hotel that the High Table conducts business at in the Wick film universe.
The whole Simpsons x Fortnite x John Wick crossover includes a Simpsons Wick skin, a John Wick sprite, and the hotel. In the Continental,
according to ShiinaBR
on X, proximity chat has returned.
This makes perfect sense. The Continental is supposed to be an anti-violence place (ironically) where the assassins and hitmen can go about their business without being hunted down. There has, to date, not been
much of that in Fortnite. But in introducing the Continental,
Epic Games has added
a safe haven of sorts.
But if you attack someone within the confines of the POI, there are consequences. In the movies, it meant that you became fair game to all the murderers in the building and that you were kicked out of the secret society and excommunicated. In Fortnite, you’ll be marked, and there will be no repercussions for other players damaging or eliminating you.
Proximity chat fits perfectly here because it’s a place of communication, not violence. And if there just so happens to be violence, it’s fitting that players will be able to communicate to track down the violator.
Image credit: Epic Games
Zachary Roberts
About Zachary Roberts
Zachary Roberts is an avid gamer and writer that loves to merge those things. He’s been featured on VideoGamer, ComicBook, New Leaf, Esports.net, and Sportskeeda as well as the On SI network of Sports Illustrated and Sporting News.
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