Fortnitemares 2020 release date, update, skins and everything you need to know

Fortnitemares 2020
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Fornite’s annual Halloween-themed event, Fortnitemares, is creeping out of the shadows. Epic Games has announced that Fortnite v14.40 arrives today, October 21, and the ghoulish festivities will run until November 3.

Epic has slowly been sprucing up the world of Fortnite with spooky makeovers, as the massively popular battle royale game prepares for one of its biggest events. You won’t want to miss it, then, so here’s everything you need to know about Fortnitemares 2020.

Check out the new trailer for the Halloween-themed Fortnite event below:

Fornitemares 2020 release date 

The scares will take place from October 21 to November 3 this year, which is earlier than usual. Update v14.40 is now live, and weighs in at a chunky 27GB on PC. Epic has promised that the update will provide a number of optimizations and result in smaller updates for the game moving forward, as well as reducing the file size of Fortnite itself – it should end up over 60GB smaller. 

Fornitemares Midas’ Revenge 

Fortnitemares 2020 will see the return of Midas, this time in Shadow form. Along with his reawakened Henchmen, Shadow Midas has reclaimed what was once The Agency. Once you’ve been eliminated in Solo, Duos, or Squads, you can return to the fray as a Shadow for your shot at a Nitemare Royale.  

Fortnitemares skins 

Fortnitemares skins

(Image credit: Epic Games)

You can expect some hauntingly good challenges and rewards during the Fortnitemares event, including plenty of scary skins and cosmetics to unlock. There’s the Smash O’Latern Pickaxe, Bobo Back Bling, and more seasonally-appropriate gear to grab.

New weapons include the Pumpkin Rocket Launcher and Fiend Hunter Crossbow, perfect for fighting your foes. You can ride on a Witch Broom, too, and there’s plenty of candy to get your hands on. Some Halloween-themed character skins include Midnight Dusk, Arachne Couture, Gnash and Grimoire, which give your character a suitably gothic look.

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J Balvin Afterlife Party

Fortnite J Balvin

(Image credit: Epic Games)

It wouldn't be a major Fortnite event without an in-game live performance. Four-time Latin Grammy winner J Balvin comes to Party Royale with he Afterlife Party, which promises to be "a special performance of Latin culture and hip-hop including the debut of his brand new song ft. Sech!".

The party begins at the Main Stage in Party Royale on October 31 6pm PT / 2am BST. 

Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.