Rebekah D. April 8, 2019
Epic Games has confirmed the arrival of Reboot Vans in the next Fortnite update.
Community manager Nathan Mooney announced and explained the new feature on YouTube while dressed as a banana.
During what was the thirteenth developer update, Mooney detailed the mechanics of the new feature, explaining to fans exactly what to expect from Reboot Vans once they are introduced into the game.
The vans will be dotted throughout the map near points of interest while playing in squads, enabling players to easily find and utilize them. If a squadmate dies, they will drop an item called a “Reboot Key,” which acts as the currency needed to revive members of your team.
Once taken to a van, players can use the key to revive their entire squad, though only one teammate will appear on top of the van at a time. To prevent the respawn mechanic from being spammed, there is a cooldown after a squad revival is complete that affects both the squad using it and any enemy squads looking to take advantage.
While in use, the van will set off a bright light to alert enemy teams, and will also sound an alarm to draw extra attention.
Reboot Vans were first teased in February when unknown trucks began to appear across the Fortnite map. Fans were unsure of their purpose, but during a Reddit AMA one of the game’s producers admitted to testing out a new respawn mechanic, and that updates would follow throughout Season 8.
Rumours were further fueled when data miner FortTory spoke on Twitter about discovering some unused audio files in the game’s latest updates with references to “second chance” in the file names, along with references to a mysterious new machine.
These rumors have now been confirmed, and the mechanic should launch during the week of April 8.