Fortnite is enjoying an influx of players keen to hunt the game’s Pokémon-like Sprites — and five more species arrive this week.
More than 1.2 million players were active in Fortnite’s core battle royale modes on Saturday afternoon, as the game hosted a pair of two-hour “Power Hour” events where rare Sprite spawns were significantly boosted.
Outside of this month’s big live story event, this was Fortnite’s biggest battle royale player count since March. And outside of Saturday’s spike, battle royale player numbers are up noticeably on the end of the game’s previous season.
Fan have really taken to Fortnite’s new extraction, collection and levelling mechanics, which see players find gameplay-impacting Sprites, level up their power, and ensure their use in future games via sweaty extraction points. So popular are the little creatures, that some fans have taken to selling their rare varieties on eBay — which developer Epic Games has since told IGN it is cracking down on, as it is against Fortnite’s rules.
Several ultra-rare shiny variants of each Sprite now exist, though Fortnite does at least allow players to share and trade creatures among teammates — ensuring that even the Galaxy Zero Point Sprite, which reportedly has a 0.0000014% drop rate, is now circulating among players.
This week, five new Sprite varieties join the mix, available from Fortnite’s next update which is currently due to land on Thursday, June 25:
- Striker Sprite – Gain Overdrive when you Mantle or Hurdle, unlock it by scoring a goal at the new Football Pitch POI
- Fishy Sprite – Swim speed way up, plus a brief movement speed boost when you take damage
- Aura Sprite – Gain a Shock Rock charge when you deal enough damage
- Boss Sprite – Boosts your max Health and Shield, drops from any Boss
- Grim Reaper Sprite – Anyone who attacks you gets marked for a duration
More Sprites will arrive each week in-game, including several fan-designed species later this season. Have you collected them all?
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
