A Whole Lotta Fortnite

Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest issue of the Destructoid Changelog. This week, Fortnite is back in the news, Borderlands 4 looks great, and another big Switch 2 game has leaked again.

And, don’t forget to complete our survey to help shape what you want to see from Destructoid!

Fortnite, all night

Fortnite is a bona fide pop culture phenomenon, and that naturally means there’s rarely a week that goes by that Epic’s battle royale isn’t in the news somewhere.

This week, it’s for a few reasons. For one, a judge has delivered a verdict on the long-running legal proceedings against Apple.

Fortnite hasn’t been found on Apple’s ecosystem since 2020 after Epic suggested users would get bonus V-Bucks for spending money away from Apple’s prying eyes, and now Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has stuck by Epic.

Apple has been ordered not to warn users away from third-party payment options, and the judge even suggested the company’s VP Alex Roman “outright lied under oath,” potentially opening a path for criminal contempt charges.

Fortnite is available in the E.U. via Epic’s own storefront, which is allowed there by the Digital Markets Act. But boss Tim Sweeney has suggested the company could bring Fortnite back as soon as next week if Apple accepts the decision.

Aside from multi-billion-dollar companies doing battle with each other, Fortnite has also allowed Epic to partner up with Disney. The long-term partnership is still relatively under wraps, but we will get a big ol’ Star Wars chapter starting this week with Galactic Battle.

From a new map and a fresh battle pass, it’s not often a season is so squarely focused on a crossover, but that’s not all.

In a first for Disney and Epic, the first couple of episodes of the new anthology series Tales From The Underworld will premiere in Fortnite two days before they are added to Disney+.

How’s that for a game that was once dubbed a PUBG clone?

More-derlands

Borderlands arguably set the table for the loot-shooter genre, but perhaps doesn’t get its due.

With Borderlands 4, however, that could be about to change. After all, Borderlands 3 was great in 2019, but now well into a new console generation, Gearbox is throwing everything at the new title.

Despite promising a “more grounded tone,” the upcoming shooter (which was moved up by a fortnight to launch on Sept. 12) will offer much more in the way of traversal options, including gliding and a new personal vehicle which will be customisable.

This week’s State of Play presentation makes Borderlands 4 look much more fluid than its predecessors. The visuals look even more impressive, too, while retaining the cartoony, cel-shaded style the series has become known for.

We don’t want to wish the year away, but can it be September yet, please?

Switch on

The Nintendo Switch 2 is (at the time of writing) 35 days away, not that we’re counting.

Nintendo’s hardware sequel has a whole host of exciting games already confirmed, too. With Mario Kart World as the big headline, first-party title, there are also enhanced versions of Zelda, Mario Party, and Kirby to come.

Then there’s the third-party hits like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and more, and now another appears to have leaked.

After rumours it’d be available on Switch 2 earlier this year, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has been tipped for the console by a rating, meaning you could be taking Goku and pals on the go.

And, while it’s not confirmed, Diablo boss Rod Fergusson has plenty to say about supporting the Nintendo Switch 2.

“It’s nice the Switch 2 has the performance that can run a game like Diablo 4, so yeah, it’s something to look at for sure,” he told Gamertag Radio.

It’s clear the success of the Switch has more third-party publishers ready to support Nintendo early on, and that should make for an exciting first year of the system.

That’s all for today, but we’ll be back next week. Thanks for subscribing!

Destructoid team