‘Fortnite’ players given xp boosts and free pickaxe after Winterfest issues

Fortnite players are gaining experience boosts and a free pickaxe after the game suffered significant downtime during December.

Yesterday (January 5), the official Fortnite Twitter account tweeted that it would be rewarding players for their patience.

As thanks for everyone’s patience during the December login issues, we’ll be kicking off a Power Leveling Weekend from 1/7 @ 7 PM to 1/10 @ 7 AM ET and granting everyone who logged in during Winterfest the new Crescent Shroom Pickaxe before it arrives in the Shop later! pic.twitter.com/d2xiIDnyl2

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) January 5, 2022

“As thanks for everyone’s patience during the December login issues, we’ll be kicking off a Power Levelling Weekend,” the account explained. The weekend starts from tomorrow (January 7) at 7PM ET (12AM UK time on January 8). It runs until January 10 at 12PM UK time. Everyone who previously logged in during Winterfest gains a new Crescent Shroom Pickaxe entirely for free too.

It’s a replacement to the final Winterfest gift which has been stuck as an unobtainable notification in the main menu in recent days. Winterfest ends today so if you’re quick, there’s still time to be seen during the event, which means the freebie is yours.

Throughout the Winterfest event, Fortnite suffered from some login issues that meant many players could not participate.

Over Christmas, Star Wars character, Boba Fett, joined the game. New Spider-Man: No Way Home skins were added too as part of Fortnite Winterfest 2021.

Earlier in December, Fortnite was also finally upgraded to Unreal Engine 5. Because of the upgrade, there were significant changes in the game’s graphical performance including extra details on objects. One of its latest patches included balance changes and Super Level Styles. The latter helped anyone who had already reached battle pass level 100.

Elsewhere in gaming, Ubisoft has fixed Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Yule Festival after issues prevented some players from taking part.

Also, Far Cry 6 gets new DLC next week with players able to take control of Far Cry 4 villain, Pagan Min.