Fortnite Update 5.21 on September 17 Brings Kingdom Hearts Collaboration

Epic Games has a new collaboration out for Fortnite, and this one sees Sora & Co. from Kingdom Hearts available in the popular Battle Royale game.

Console gamers will see this as Fortnite update 5.21, and aside from Kingdom Hearts, there are loot pool updates, new pocket item options in Zero Build and a lot more.

Read on for the info on Kingdom Hearts, as well as the patch notes for the game’s other modes.

Fortnite’s v42.20 Update Sees Kingdom Hearts Enter the Fray

• Kingdom Key: Unleash a flurry of melee combos and call down a shocking bolt on your opponents.

• Sea Salt Ice Cream: This salty-sweet treat gives you and nearby teammates a health and shield burst.

• Rebecca’s Guns: Double the guts and carnage with the dual-wielded Assault Rifle/SMG combo! Track down the Exotic version for ricocheting bullets.

Loot Hacks have refreshed! A new lineup of weapons and items is now hackable (who said Mammoth Pistol?):

New Pocket Item Options in Zero Build

We’re bringing more teamplay to the Pocket Item rotation: the Shield Keg offers healing to share, the Rift-To-Go covers team mobility, while the Shield Bubble Jr. gives you reliable cover on demand.

• Recovery (Squad & Match-Wide): Eliminating a player with any weapon drops healing orbs.

• Level Up (Squad): Spawns a Mythic Kingdom Key for each squad member at their current location.

• Dynamic Storm: The fewer players left standing, the faster the Storm closes in.

• Super Shot: While firing bullets, your weapon will occasionally launch a rocket instead. BOOM!

• Big Boom: Land from a height with no fall damage, dealing area-of-effect damage to opponents. The longer the drop, the bigger the explosion.

• Healing Overdrive: Healing triggers the Overdrive effect. Patch up and get back in the fight faster!

Coming next Thursday, September 24:

• Suppressing Fire: All ranged weapons have increased mag size and infinite ammo.

• Health Siphon: Dealing damage restores your health.

• Tetris Tower: Climb a tower made of Tetris blocks and claim the reward at the top. These can appear all over the Island, so keep an eye out!

Four new Sprites have been hacked into the Island – including Pine & Kiri’s #DesignASprite winner: Pond Sprite!

• Pond Sprite (#DesignASprite Winner!): Jump shortly after landing to launch a Super Jump – higher and more often with each Sprite Level!

• Crash Bandicoot Sprite: Perform a spin attack while midair, damaging and knocking back nearby opponents.

• Blinky Sprite: Taking damage cloaks you for a short time, making you harder to spot.

• Birthday Sprite (available starting Saturday, September 26): Chests have a chance to serve up slices of cake when opened – at max Sprite Level, elims can too! 🎂

New Sprite Mastery Back Bling: A new retro-style Pixel Sprite Trainer Back Bling is up for grabs! Extract 30 Sprites to earn the Back Bling and show off your favorite mastered friends everywhere you go.

Cheat Code Rarity Update: Cheat Codes have gotten a bit too predictable, and finding rarer Cheat Codes wasn’t as exciting as it should be, so we’re switching up how they drop Sprites.

• Sprites of any rarity can now be found in any Rare (blue) or Epic (purple) Cheat Code.

• Epic Cheat Codes have significantly increased chances of variants and higher-rarity Sprites.

• Legendary (orange) Cheat Codes are guaranteed to drop a variant Sprite, with an emphasis on higher-rarity ones.

Sprite hunting odds have also been improved – the longer you go without finding a new Sprite, the better your chances of getting a variant you don’t already own.

New Mastery Track Rewards: New pages of the Mastery Track have been added, including a new Pixel Polli Outfit! And look forward to more, with an even more pixelated Style arriving in a future update this Season when mastering 70 Sprites.

And next Thursday, September 24, Bounty Hunter Sprite variants join the fray… These combat-hungry Sprites have a chance to appear when you eliminate opponents, leveling up only from eliminations. Rack ‘em up!

KINGDOM HEARTS Power Hours This Weekend

Drop into the KINGDOM HEARTS Power Hours this Saturday, September 19 – everyone starts with the Kingdom Key and a Sea Salt Ice Cream! 

🕑 Starts at 2 PM ET – 4 PM ET | 6 PM UTC – 8 PM UTC

🕘 Again at 9 PM ET – 11 PM ET | Sunday, 1 AM UTC – 3 AM UTC

💙 Everyone drops in with the Kingdom Key and a Sea Salt Ice Cream

👾 Hacker Sprite variants appear more often

🪙 1-Up Tokens and Portable Extractors may drop from Chests

Battle Royale & Zero Build Latency Improvements

To improve latency across the regions, we’re rolling out a new way to matchmake. Instead of picking between separate regions, you can now select a preferred subregion in real time – no game restart needed.

The game will look for a match in your preferred subregion first. If there aren’t enough players queuing at that moment, it’ll expand the search so you can get into action faster while still ensuring fairness. Choosing Auto is the best option for most players that use this setting – it’s designed to balance fairness, queue times and latency.

If you’re in a party, matchmaking will be based on the preference of the player who starts the queue. That said, we’re exploring more options for parties and more subregions down the road.

As part of this change, NA-West, NA-Central and NA-East have merged into a single NA region with multiple subregions you can choose from. You’ll still have a say in where you play – and matchmaking across one bigger region means faster queues and fairer matches for NA players.

Find the new Subregion Preference section under Settings > Game > Language and Region. If you’re having latency issues, check our updated Latency and Ping Troubleshooting article for tips.

Note: Ranked uses the new subregion system as well. Competitive matchmaking remains unchanged for now – you’ll still be able to choose between the NA-West and NA-Central regions.

Fortnite Bug Fixes Improvements for September 17

• Completed Sidekick Quests no longer reappear in the Quests tab.

We’re working hard to fix longstanding cosmetic issues you’ve reported. Each update, we’ll highlight what’s fixed and what’s next. Thanks for reporting these as we work through them.

• Updated the Lush Life Emote’s audio to better match the music with Zara Larsson’s choreography.

  • Emote owners will be able to refund it without spending a Return Ticket if they prefer.

• The Chrome Punk Outfit’s head no longer appears golden/orange instead of its intended chrome finish.

• The Cosmic Armor Singularity Styles, including Helmet On/Off, now appear consistently when previewing the Outfit.

• The Lunar Rings Contrail now displays its intended colors.

• The Eclipse Outfit’s Night Style now applies to the full Outfit instead of just the head.

• The Heart-rizon Emote’s heart now displays its correct texture.

• The Wrixel Outfit’s right arm no longer partially disappears during a slide boost with the Mega Buster.

• The Rush Sidekick’s limbs no longer appear jagged or stretched, especially when sitting.

• Fixed lighting on toon-shaded Wraps appearing too dark when previewed in the Locker.

• The T-800 Outfit’s arms no longer appear distorted when certain Pickaxes are equipped.

• Fixed the Nimbus Cloud (Kintoun) Glider’s animation playing out of sync when first previewed in the Locker.

• The Hatsune Miku Outfit’s hair no longer clips through the Claptrap Back Bling when equipped.

• Fixed pants on several Outfits (e.g. Lt. Ripp Slade) clipping with larger Kicks (e.g. MSCHF Big Red Boot)

• Fixed the Spider-Man (Brand New Day) Outfit showing socks over medium-sized Kicks (e.g. Converse Chuck 70 Hi Canvas ‘Enamel Red’).

• Big Mouth Outfit’s eyewear no longer appears misplaced during certain Emotes (e.g. Trinity’s Kick, Full Googly).

• The Kinetic Catalyst Outfit’s left hand and leg no longer jitter during idle animations on iOS and Nintendo Switch.

• The Catalytic Case Back Bling no longer clips through the Kinetic Catalyst Outfit while skydiving.

• The Armadillo Outfit’s mask no longer appears detached.

• Added missing set names for the Hammy and Fractal Cat Sidekicks when viewed in the Locker.

• Dual-wield Pickaxes now consistently trigger Auto Fire with touch input.

• Fixed an issue where launching the game with your iOS device muted could leave audio missing even after unmuting.

• Fixed an instance causing the ESP-INIT-001 error to appear when launching the game.

• Fixed several crashes that could occur when closing the game.

• Fixed an issue with the 8-Bit Shotgun shooting through walls when clipped through them.

• Ammo spawned from Loot Hack drops no longer needs to be picked up manually.

• Reboot Vans now correctly reboot your teammates when the reboot progress completes.

• Fixed an issue where players could carry a downed teammate while using Sonic’s Power Sneakers’ Spin Dash.

• Vending Machines now grant Sonic Power Sneakers consistently.

• You’ll no longer take fall damage when canceling Sonic’s Power Sneakers’ Spin Dash right before jumping off a slope.

• Fixed an issue where other players’ Sprites could sometimes be seen through walls.

• The Adventure Sprite’s effect no longer swaps your equipped item when your inventory is full.

• Mega Buster shots now correctly break glass surfaces and display impact effects when firing at water.

• Fixed a rare bug where you could damage yourself while disguised as a prop.

• The map is now correctly centered while on Starter Island.

• Fixed flickering textures along walls at Stone Sanctum.

• Fixed a floating patch of grass near Reality’s Reign.

• Issued a full fix for the crash that could occur on the Microsoft Store version of the game.

• Your cosmetics no longer reset to defaults after being rebooted.

• The OG Pass screen now correctly displays the Season name as Chapter 1 – Season X instead of Chapter X – Season X.

• OG Season X Pass Sprays and Banner Icons are now correctly scaled, no longer overflowing their frames.

• Your character will no longer sink into the terrain in certain spots at The Devourer’s skull.

• Your character will no longer clip into the power cable south of Loot Lake and fall through the terrain.

• The B.R.U.T.E.’s Missile Launcher laser no longer stays on after switching seats mid-air and firing.

• The B.R.U.T.E.’s descent and landing effects now better match Chapter 1 visuals.

• Audiovisual indicators no longer behave erratically for gunners in a B.R.U.T.E. driven by an opponent.

• The B.R.U.T.E. no longer briefly disappears from the gunner’s view when looking away from its movement direction.

• Restored missing ambient audio around The Devourer’s skull.

• Restored missing low-grav jump sound effects across the OG Island.

• The Zero Point at Loot Lake now displays correctly when viewed up close at certain angles.

• Fixed visible seams and sharp textures at Pressure Plant.

• The Chests placed on shelves at Pressure Plant now correctly display their glow effect.

• Fixed grass clipping through the ground and objects on Starter Island.

• Snow textures are no longer stretched at biome transitions.

• The landscape near Mega Mall now matches its Chapter 1 visuals.

• Flowers north of Dusty Depot no longer cast unintended shadows.

• Added multiple missing objects (rocks, shrubbery, parked vehicles etc.) around Paradise Palms.

• Parts of a hut near Lazy Lagoon no longer appear inverted.

• Ground textures in the underground areas of Shifty Shafts no longer appear overly dark.

• Restored a missing teddy bear to its attic at Fatal Fields. 🐻

• A Vending Machine near the destroyed motel northeast of Pleasant Park no longer clips into the ground.

• A Chest is no longer stuck under the destroyed motel northeast of Pleasant Park, and the ground no longer appears overlapped.

• Shooed away birds that hadn’t heard the Desert Pirate Outpost was removed.

• Removed an extra Campfire southeast of Sunny Steps, as well as extra cones and flags east of Snobby Shores.

• Recolored parasols near Happy Hamlet, Paradise Palms and Junk Junction from green to red, matching their Chapter 1 look.

• Changing the party leader no longer resets matchmaking for players already queued for a Mission.

• Fixed a crash on PC that could occur when leaving a Mission you’d reconnected to.

• Fixed a bug that could cause endless ammo crafting when interacting with certain menus and items on controller.

• Structures built around the tracks in Deliver the Bomb no longer block Husks from spawning.

• Fixed an issue sometimes preventing Husk eliminations from advancing the “Husks Eliminated” objective in Survive the Night.

• Your character’s Ghost form now displays correctly after being eliminated in Dungeons.

• Ninjas now correctly regain their Mantis Leap ability after landing on bouncy surfaces like parasols, tires or jump pads.

• Removed invisible walls around certain floor tiles in The Lab Dungeon.

• Play button no longer requires two presses to load into Homebase.

• The Select the Leader screen now updates consistently when players join or leave the party.

• The Armory is now named correctly in Deliver the Bomb instructions and during the Mission.

• Corrected the Trap the Storm objective text to “Only 1 Storm Trap can be deployed” instead of “Only 1 Trap can be deployed.”

• Text Chat no longer incorrectly defaults to Game Chat in Homebase – it now switches to Party Chat automatically.

• Fixed the Rambo Outfit’s First Blood Style not being obscured correctly during Shadow Stance.

• Adjusted how the Flip prompt works for driver’s seats, allowing contraptions to use the seats in more orientations.

• Corrected a number of entries in the Codex.

• Buildable pieces will no longer disappear while you’re still nearby.

• Storm Survival Camp starter Quests now update correctly in Sandbox mode.

• Items craftable from connected Village Chests no longer appear greyed out when the “Hide Uncraftable Items” filter is on.

• On touch controls, the Hammer and Dual Blades’ secondary attacks now properly support hold functionality, fixing the inconsistent behavior.

• The shuriken jump attack and backward-moving primary attack now work as intended.

• Your Backpack no longer falls through harvestable materials.

• Build Menu tab names now display correctly.

• Fixed an issue preventing players from going back to fight the Storm King if eliminated in the Storm King boss arena

If another patch is released, you’ll see it here on MP1st with the correct changelog.

Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.