Epic Games is finally delivering on a long-standing promise by making Fortnite’s original Save the World mode free-to-play starting April 16. The cooperative PvE survival experience, which predates the massively popular battle royale mode by several months, has required players to purchase a Starter Pack — typically priced at 1,500 V-Bucks — ever since Epic reversed its initial free-to-play plans back in 2020. That paywall is now being torn down for good, opening the mode up to millions of players who never took the plunge.
Save the World drops teams of four players into a zombie-fighting, base-building sandbox that has long been described as a blend of Minecraft and Left 4 Dead. The mode first debuted as a paid early access title in July 2017, months before the battle royale phenomenon took the world by storm. Though it never achieved the cultural dominance of its younger sibling, Save the World has maintained a dedicated community even as Epic slowed the pace of updates over the years.
In addition to going free, the mode is expanding to a new platform for the first time. Nintendo Switch 2 owners will be able to jump into Save the World beginning April 16, marking the first time the experience has been available on any Nintendo hardware. The mode will continue to be supported on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S, though the original Nintendo Switch and mobile devices remain unsupported, as GameSpot notes.
To build excitement ahead of the launch, Epic has set up a community registration drive where players can pre-register online to unlock tiered free rewards — the more people who sign up, the bigger the bonuses for everyone involved. Existing Save the World players won’t be left out either, as they are set to receive their own exclusive rewards before the mode opens its doors to the public. New purchases of Save the World Starter Packs have already been paused as of March 11, though current owners retain full access in the meantime.
The timing of this announcement is notable, arriving just days after Epic revealed a controversial overhaul to Fortnite’s V-Bucks pricing model. The publisher is raising the cost of its virtual currency while simultaneously reducing the V-Bucks earned through the Battle Pass, changes that Epic says are necessary to “pay the bills.” Those adjustments take effect with the launch of Chapter 7 Season 2 on March 19, meaning players will be digesting higher prices just weeks before Save the World opens up for free.
It has been a whirlwind stretch for the Fortnite ecosystem, which is also gearing up for a new battle royale season featuring the return of a fan-favorite character voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Whether the decision to finally unlock Save the World is a goodwill gesture to soften the blow of rising costs or simply a long-overdue correction, it gives a new generation of players a chance to experience where the Fortnite saga truly began.