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Fortnite v39.20 Update Patch Notes: South Park Collab, Balance Changes and Fixes

Fortnite’s January 9, 2026 v39.20 update brought South Park items and Cartmanland to Battle Royale, adjusted weapons and vaults, and shipped separate Save the World and creator-focused changes.
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Fortnite v39.20 launched on January 9, 2026, bringing the South Park collaboration to Battle Royale, changing several weapons and items, and shipping separate fixes for Save the World and the wider Fortnite creator ecosystem. Epic’s South Park event ran through February 5, 2026; these are retrospective patch notes, not confirmation that its content is currently available.

What the January 9 Fortnite v39.20 update added

Epic’s South Park announcement said the characters arrived on the Golden Coast with the update. The free Born in Chaos Pass offered 13 South Park-themed unlockables earned by completing South Park quests.

  • Backpack of CRED Back Bling, Terrance and Phillip Pickaxe, and Cheesy Poofs Rocketship Emote were among the named rewards.
  • Completing every quest unlocked the Imaginationland Airship Glider.

Epic Games’ Communities Team described the launch this way: “The South Park kids arrive on the Golden Coast on January 9, and they’re here to break the rules.” The announced collaboration ended February 5, 2026. The available sources do not establish whether any of its cosmetics have since returned to the Item Shop.

South Park items and Cartmanland in Battle Royale

Battle Royale received four prominent additions tied to the collaboration:

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Battle Royale vaults and weapon balance changes

Epic’s update also adjusted the loot pool and several weapons. These are the changes the notes announce; they do not quantify how matches or the competitive meta changed as a result.

Change v39.20 adjustment
Shockwave Grenades Vaulted
Crash Pad Jr Unvaulted
Tactical Assault Rifle More damage at longer ranges
Holo Rush SMG More damage at longer ranges
Deadeye Assault Rifle Less damage at longer ranges, increased hip-fire spread, and slightly more recoil while scoped

Epic said it reduced the Deadeye Assault Rifle’s power to make room for competition from the Tactical Assault Rifle and Holo Rush SMG.

Save the World fixes and known issues

Save the World received its own v39.20 notes, separate from Battle Royale. Epic’s Save the World update post lists these shipped fixes:

  • Closing the map while moving with a keyboard no longer stops the character.
  • Weapons no longer incorrectly contribute to Venture Power Rating in a Venture zone.
  • Reloading certain weapons, including bows and rocket launchers, no longer forces players out of aiming down sights.
  • Constructors’ Plasma Pulse grenades correctly deploy and deal damage after a bow is fired.
  • Gadget notifications appear after earning a gadget through a level-up.
  • Mouse-wheel weapon switching works with the relevant Slot Up and Slot Down bindings.
  • Placeholder text no longer appears in an empty Batch Recycle tab.

Issues Epic listed separately

The same post also documented known issues, including inaccurate “X has joined the team” stat notifications, abilities activating while on cooldown, a missing reset option in the Simple Edit UI, missing hero head textures, and Directional Jump Pads failing after Phase Shift. It also listed Xbox One lighting and sprint-stutter problems, among other issues. These were not presented as fixes shipped in v39.20. In a later status update on the post, Epic said some issues had been fixed in a future update while others remained under investigation.

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OG fixes reported on release day

Insider Gaming’s January 9 coverage reported that OG lighting returned with a darker look inspired by the original OG lighting. It also listed fixes involving Self-Revive prompts, hip-fire after jumping, vehicle health bars, OG aiming-down-sights behavior, Dual Pistols in Supply Drops, misplaced foliage, vending machines, All Terrain Karts, and terrain gaps. These details come from secondary release-day reporting, rather than the Epic sources for the South Park and Save the World notes.

Fortnite ecosystem and UEFN changes for creators

Epic’s 39.20 Fortnite Ecosystem Updates and Release Notes cover creator tools and Fortnite’s broader ecosystem—not just changes to the Battle Royale match. The notes include:

  • In-island transactions publishing, allowing players to buy items in creator islands using V-Bucks.
  • New Verse and UMG highlight events, plus a radial gauge material.
  • New Flex SMG and Tactical Assault Rifle entries and updates to other weapons.
  • Stealth Splash, SUS Studios prefabs and galleries, and community bug fixes.
  • Mobile loading optimization and UEFN fixes.

These release notes are most relevant to creators and island publishers. Their tools, content and transaction changes should not be confused with the player-facing South Park event or the Battle Royale balance adjustments.

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