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Fortnite Showdown Season Details and Patch Notes: What Changed

Fortnite Showdown paired Team Foundation against Team Ice King and added Rivalry progression, refreshed loot, new locations, match-flow changes, PC fixes, and later Overwatch content. Here’s what the season changed and why its launch notes are no longer current.
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Fortnite Showdown was a historical Battle Royale season built around a contest between Team Foundation and Team Ice King. Its launch update introduced Rivalry challenges and progression, refreshed weapons and items, new locations and traversal, and changes to match flow. Epic later added Overwatch content in Act III. Showdown is no longer the current season: Epic announced Chapter 7 Season 4, Override, on August 20, 2026.

What was Fortnite Showdown?

Epic announced Showdown on March 19, 2026, as a Battle Royale season organized around two sides: Team Foundation and Team Ice King. Players chose a team, and that choice was permanent for the season. Epic said the winning side would determine a final Battle Pass style for Battle Pass owners. Epic’s Showdown season announcement and launch update notes described the season’s central contest.

Showdown also included a Global Leaderboard Challenge. Epic named Kicks, Pickaxes, an Emote, and Emoticons among its rewards, and mentioned a chance to win an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card, PlayStation 5, or Fortnite merchandise. These were promotional prize mentions, not guarantees or statements of present availability.

How did Rivalry work?

Players could challenge opponents as rivals. Winning rivalries earned team points and Rival Credits, which could be spent at Rivalry Gear machines on perks, weapons, and XP. Credits carried across matches, and climbing Rivalry Ranks unlocked better machine loot. The update notes also said that an opponent who eliminated a player after that player rebooted automatically became their rival.

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The system linked individual matchups to the season-wide team contest: rivalry wins advanced a player’s side, while accumulated credits offered a separate way to access in-match gear and progression.

What changed in the Showdown launch update?

New locations and movement

The season introduced New Sanctuary, Frigid Fortress, Dark Dominion, and Squibbly Shores. Two new movement items also changed how players could traverse the map:

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Weapons and items

Epic described the season’s loot pool as almost entirely refreshed from Season 1. The launch notes distinguished newly added gear, items unlocked through the Showdown, and returning equipment:

Category Weapons and items listed in the launch notes
Added Vector 7 DMR; Chaos Reloader Shotgun; Bouncing Boomstick; Overdrive Grenade; Skyline Deployer.
Unlocked through the Showdown Ice King’s Gauntlets; The Foundation’s Rift Rifle, described as an Exotic Vector 7 DMR; Seven Cluster Cannon; Seven Power Gloves; Slapperoni Pizza.
Unvaulted or returning Combat Assault Rifle; Nemesis AR; Chapter 1 Pistol; Thunder Burst SMG; Iron Pump Shotgun; Twin Hammer Shotguns; Twin Mag SMG; Mythic Goldfish; FlowBerry Mist Grenade; Port-A-Bunker and Shield Bubble Jr. in Zero Build.

The Zero Build qualification applies to Port-A-Bunker and Shield Bubble Jr. in the returning-gear list. The other entries above are presented as the notes list them, without implying that every item was available in every mode or at every point in the season.

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  • Heroes - play as four hero classes, each with thousands of variations to recruit and unlock.
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  • Building System - The revolutionary building system allows you to quickly build structures while also juggling frenetic combat.
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Match flow and anomalies

Each match randomly selected one player to drive the Battle Bus through rings. Passing through a ring granted XP to the lobby and spawned a Supply Drop at that ring’s coordinates. The update also described Rift Anomalies, including Rivalry Rumble and Storm Focus, as well as a Stabilize Anomaly that unlocked later.

A temporary Returning Player Modifier was intended to ease returning players into more accessible matches while matchmaking recalibrated. It was a season system, not a permanent promise about matchmaking.

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PC stability and quality-of-life fixes

Epic listed changes aimed at several PC crashes, particularly issues affecting competitive play and asset streaming. It also said it improved stability for most modern Intel GPUs, fixed a launch crash that particularly affected Intel CPU players, and deployed broader crash-related changes without waiting for a patch or hotfix. These are Epic’s descriptions of its fixes, not a guarantee that every crash or PC issue was resolved.

Other listed corrections and quality-of-life changes included minimap indicators for teammates, a second keybind for map pings, more reliable chest opening while moving, improved window hurdling, and more reliable item-pickup filtering, along with other interface and gameplay fixes.

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  • An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
  • If playing on a console platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch or Mobile) you need to link your Epic Games account to that gaming platform (one time) to redeem your gift card code
  • The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
  • Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
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What came later in Showdown?

On May 14, 2026, Epic announced Overwatch content for Showdown Act III in Battle Royale, Zero Build, Reload, and Blitz. Its announcement referenced update v40.40 and listed Busan Sanctuary, Hanamura Courtyard, King’s Row Tower, and bases inspired by Watchpoint: Gibraltar, alongside Overwatch loot. Epic directed players to a separate Communities post for more detail. Read Epic’s Act III announcement.

Is Fortnite Showdown still available?

No: Showdown is a past season, not the current Battle Royale season. Epic’s news index had later coverage through October 1, 2026, and its August 20 announcement identified Chapter 7 Season 4 as Override. The Showdown loot pool, Battle Pass deadline, cosmetics, and modes should not be treated as currently available without checking Fortnite in-game or Epic’s current updates.

The Showdown Battle Pass announcement stated a price of 800 V-Bucks and a purchase deadline of March 26, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. That deadline has passed. For current season and patch information, consult Epic’s Fortnite news and update announcements rather than relying on Showdown’s launch notes.

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