Fortnite's short-lived jetpacks and shotguns mode is back

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The high-flying limited time mode will hopefully stick around a little longer this time.

We included Fortnite's Close Encounters LTM in our list of the best and worst of Fortnite's limited time modes, but I'm not completely certain about which side it was meant for. "Players would fly through their air, shotguns in hand and jetpacks on backs, taking players out in the skies," which sounds like a blast—except that once people figured out how to literally place themselves above the fray, it all fell apart. Epic pulled the plug, and that was that. Until today. 

MrPopoTFS, also known as Epic community coordinator Sean Hamilton, explained on Reddit what the developers have done to address the "sky base" problem—"Sky bases" being the extremely high towers players could build that put them beyond the reach of jetpacks and short-range shotguns, the only weapons that were available in the mode.   

"We've also added the Grappler to this LTM and decreased the burn rate of jet fuel by 50%," he wrote. "The extra jet fuel and grappler should help deal with those bases high in the sky."

The Close Encounters LTM is live now. Epic hasn't said when it will wrap up, but hopefully it will run at least a little longer than last time.

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Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.