Why can't I pick NA-West in Fortnite anymore?

Since the v42.20 update on 17 September, NA-West, NA-Central and NA-East are merged into one North America region for Battle Royale, Zero Build and Ranked. You now choose a preferred subregion under Settings > Game > Language and Region. Tournament matchmaking still lets you pick NA-West or NA-Central for now.

What is the Fortnite subregion setting and what should I choose?

Subregion Preference tells matchmaking which part of a region to search first; if not enough players are queuing there, it widens the search. Epic recommends Auto for most players because it balances latency, queue time and match fairness. In a party, the setting of whoever starts the queue applies.

Does Fortnite v42.20 fix the 8-Bit Shotgun shooting through walls?

Yes. Epic's v42.20 notes say the 8-Bit Shotgun no longer fires through walls when the player is clipped into them. The same update fixes Reboot Vans failing to revive teammates and other players' Sprites showing through walls.

When is the Fortnite KINGDOM HEARTS Power Hour?

It runs on Saturday, 19 September, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET (6 p.m. to 8 p.m. UTC) and again from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET (1 a.m. to 3 a.m. UTC Sunday). Everyone starts with the Kingdom Key and Sea Salt Ice Cream, and Hacker Sprite variants appear more often.

Fortnite v42.20 Patch Notes: NA Region Merge, Kingdom Key

Q: What weapons are in the Fortnite v42.20 Loot Hacks?

The refreshed Loot Hack pool is the Hyperburst Pistol, Mammoth Pistol, Reaper Sniper Rifle, Deadeye DMR, Flowberry Fizz and Rocket Ram. Loadouts saved from the previous pool no longer carry over.

Fortnite's v42.20 patch notes are out, and the headline change for North American players is structural: NA-West, NA-Central and NA-East have been merged into one NA region, with a new subregion picker replacing the old server choice. Epic Games published the notes on Thursday, 17 September, while servers were still down for the update on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and mobile.

The update also adds the KINGDOM HEARTS weapons, Rebecca's Guns from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a refreshed Loot Hack pool, six new Match Overrides and four Sprites. Below is what actually changed, and what it means when you log back in.

Fortnite Battle Royale artwork on a large screen above Epic Games' Unreal booth at the Game Developers Conference in 2018 — Epic's booth at an earlier industry event, not v42.20 content. Image: Fortnite Battle Royale at GDC 2018 by Official GDC, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

What happened to NA-West and NA-East in Fortnite v42.20?

They no longer exist as separate options in Battle Royale and Zero Build. North America is now a single region split into subregions, and you pick a preferred one in real time without restarting the game. The setting lives under Settings > Game > Language and Region > Subregion Preference.

Matchmaking tries your preferred subregion first. If too few players are queuing there, it widens the search to get you into a match faster. Epic recommends leaving the setting on Auto, which it says balances fairness, queue time and latency.

Parties: the subregion of whoever starts the queue is used for the whole group.
Ranked: uses the new subregion system too.
Competitive (tournaments): unchanged for now, so you can still choose NA-West or NA-Central.

If your ping looks worse after the patch, the first thing to check is that setting, since the old region choice will not carry across.

New weapons and Loot Hacks in the v42.20 update

Three new items join the loot pool:

Kingdom Key — a melee weapon with combo attacks that can call down a lightning bolt.
Sea Salt Ice Cream — a consumable that gives you and nearby teammates a burst of health and shield.
Rebecca's Guns — a dual-wielded assault rifle and SMG combo. The Exotic version fires ricocheting bullets.

Loot Hacks have also rotated. The hackable lineup is now the Hyperburst Pistol, Mammoth Pistol, Reaper Sniper Rifle, Deadeye DMR, Flowberry Fizz and Rocket Ram, which means any saved loadout built on the previous pool is gone. In Zero Build, the Shield Keg, Rift-To-Go and Shield Bubble Jr. join the Pocket Item rotation.

The Sora, Riku, Kairi and Roxas cosmetics are covered in our report on the Fortnite Sora skin and Kingdom Key release.

Match Overrides, Sprites and the Tetris Tower

Six Match Overrides go live today: Recovery (eliminations drop healing orbs), Level Up (a Mythic Kingdom Key for each squad member), Dynamic Storm, Super Shot, Big Boom and Healing Overdrive. Two more, Suppressing Fire and Health Siphon, are due on Thursday, 24 September. A new mid-match objective, the Tetris Tower, spawns around the island with a reward at the top.

Four Sprites arrive: the fan-designed Pond Sprite (super jump), a Crash Bandicoot Sprite (mid-air spin attack), a Blinky Sprite (brief cloak when damaged) and a Birthday Sprite that unlocks on Saturday, 26 September. Extracting 30 Sprites earns a Pixel Sprite Trainer Back Bling.

Epic has also reworked Cheat Code drops. Any rarity of Sprite can now come from Rare or Epic Cheat Codes, Legendary Cheat Codes always give a variant, and your odds of a variant you do not own improve the longer you go without one. The season's wider setup is in our Chapter 7 Season 4 Override guide.

Which bugs does Fortnite v42.20 fix?

The fix list is long. The ones most likely to affect matches:

The 8-Bit Shotgun no longer shoots through walls when clipped into them.
Reboot Vans now reliably bring teammates back when the progress bar completes.
Other players' Sprites can no longer be seen through walls.
Ammo from Loot Hack drops is picked up automatically.
Vending Machines now consistently grant Sonic's Power Sneakers, and cancelling a Spin Dash before a jump no longer causes fall damage.
On PC, an ESP-INIT-001 launch error and several crashes when closing the game are fixed.
On mobile, dual-wield Pickaxes trigger Auto Fire correctly with touch controls, and iPhones launched while muted no longer lose game audio.

Epic also changed the Lush Life Emote's audio and says owners can refund it without using a Return Ticket. If you play on a phone with a controller, our guide to connecting a PS5 controller to Android covers pairing.

When is the KINGDOM HEARTS Power Hour?

On Saturday, 19 September, twice: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET (6 p.m. to 8 p.m. UTC), and again 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET (1 a.m. to 3 a.m. UTC on Sunday). Every player drops in with the Kingdom Key and a Sea Salt Ice Cream, Hacker Sprite variants appear more often, and chests can drop 1-Up Tokens and Portable Extractors.

For the maintenance window itself, see our Fortnite v42.20 downtime and server status report. At the time of writing, Epic's status page still listed the downtime as in progress. Epic has not published a download size for the update.