Why were Fortnite servers down? What you need to know about Impostor Mode, patch notes and new features after v17.40 Fortnite update

The latest season of Fortnite has seen an exciting range of new additions brought into the beloved free-to-play online video game, with international pop icon Ariana Grande making her debut in the game at the start of this month.

Grande became the headline act in the ‘metaverse’ game’s Rift Tour which began on 6 August and Superman recently became available as a skin in the game for those completing Superman challenges.

After scheduled downtime saw Fortnite servers down for several hours this morning (17 August), here’s what you need to know about why Fortnite servers were down as well as patch notes, Impostor Mode and more in Fortnite v17.40.

Why were Fortnite servers down?

Fortnite servers were placed under scheduled maintenance in order to pave the way for the game’s next update, v17.40.

It is the second update so far this month, with updated version 17.30 having been released on 3 August.

The 17.40 update is thought to be one of this year’s biggest updates, containing a number of new fixes and features for gameplay.

Fortnite servers were under scheduled maintenance or, as publisher Epic Games calls it, from 8.30am to 12pm on Tuesday.

Developers took down the game’s matchmaking system at around 8.30am today, with Fortnite’s status team tweeting: “We're beginning to disable matchmaking in preparation for the v17.40 update, with server downtime beginning soon.

“We’ll let you all know when downtime has ended!”

The updated version of the game will be able to download from 9am (BST) on Tuesday across Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC/Android consoles, with servers now up and running again as of 12pm.

What’s new in Fortnite update 17.40?

As with any update, v17.40 is set to see a number of fixes to gameplay across consoles, new cosmetics and new items become available in the Item Shop.

For starters, every Epic+ Pistol, Epic+ Assault Rifle and all Bolt-Action Sniper Rifles are to be replaced with Suppressed Pistols, Suppressed Assault Rifles, and Suppressed Sniper Rifles.

The last update of season seven of Fortnite also reveals the much-awaited Exotic weapon, the Burst Pulse Rifle, which can fire two-round bursts and carries a larger clip size.

Patch notes for v17.40 include the following fixes:

- Fixed a Preferred Item Slots issue involving double item slot items, such as the Chug Cannon, moving to the incorrect slots when the player picked up a new item.

- Fixed an issue involving Cosmic Chests being unopenable if a player had left the team during the match.

- Fixed an issue that caused us to disable Prop Disguise services from vendors. These are now re-enabled.

Just one day after the new update drops, Fortnite fans will also be able to compete in the Wonder Woman Cup for a chance to get their hands on a new Wonder Woman skin before it hits the Item Shop on 19 August.

The Wonder Woman Cup will begin on 18 August, with players able to compete in teams of two to clock up as many points as possible across three to ten games.

Each region’s best teams will win the Wonder Woman Outfit and Diana’s Mantle Back Bling, while any team earning eight points or more will receive the Honorary Amazons Loading Screen.

What is ‘Impostor Mode’?

Rumours that Fortnite was looking to follow in the footsteps of popular game Among Us with its own Impostor Mode have been confirmed in update 17.40.

The new Limited Time Mode (LTM), Impostor Mode, will allow players to play as secret imposters who can covertly thwart groups of agents working together to protect The Bridge, the Imagined Order’s (IO) top facility, from attacks.

The aim of the game is for imposters to eliminate as many agents of the IO as possible and take The Bridge for themselves.

Agents can use voice chat to discuss who they believe could be an imposter and can vote out any players they are suspicious of.

The mode is now available as a public match or privately for groups of four to ten users.

To find out more about the new update, read about it in full on Epic Games’ website here.

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