An unexpected announcement has been made that a brand new weapon called ‘Infantry Rifle’ is coming soon to Fortnite Battle Royale.
The weapon was revealed in the in-game ‘Message of the Day’ announcement screen and it contains the following description: “Infantry Rifle – Classic design meets new combat style.”
The weapon very much resembles the Hunting Rifle in that it features the classic wooden outer texture that can be found on many traditional and old-school rifles.
The blue background shown in the announcement image strongly suggests that there will be a Rare version of this new weapon, although it’s unclear how many other variants there will be.
As for its release date, it’s very likely that this new weapon will be added to the game as part of the v7.40 update, which is scheduled to go live on February 12.
It’s rather unclear how the Infantry Rifle will work in-game, or even what category of weapon it will be designated as. While it may appear that the weapon will be an Assault Rifle, all existing or vaulted ARs have always had the full ‘Assault Rifle’ term in the name.
While it does share a similar design with the Hunting Rifle, it’s unlikely to be a Sniper Rifle, especially since the two weapons would essentially be identical in their function.
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By the look of things, the only plausible theory is that the weapon will be Fortnite’s version of the M1 Garand, a bulky and powerful semi-automatic rifle used during World War II.
The M1 Garand has featured in many popular shooter series, most notably Call of Duty, and would essentially work like a single-fire version of the Heavy Assault Rifle.
In fact, the gun may be designed to pack a more powerful punch than any other Assault Rifle in the game, meaning there’s a chance it could use Heavy Ammo rather than Medium.
Of course this is all speculation for now, and a lot more will be clear once the Infantry Rifle makes its debut in Fortnite. Keep monitoring our Twitter @Dexerto, as well as the Dexerto Fortnite page, for more information about what’s coming in the v7.40 update.