Fortnite 5v5 Ballistic mode goes down seconds into launch as CoD rival

Fortnite Ballistic, the game’s new 5v5 mode inspired by Call of Duty, is finally here but matchmaking has already gone down, leaving thousands of players in the lurch.

Epic Games have been bringing more and more modes to Fortnite over time, from Festival to LEGO mode. Their latest addition is Fortnite Ballistic, a first-person 5v5 playlist that takes plenty of cues from CoD Search and Destroy, as players look to plant bombs at specific sites around the map.

It’s only in early access for now, but fans already speculated that it could go on to be a serious to rival to both Call of Duty and Counter-Strike, given Fortnite’s mainstream popularity.

However, Ballistic hasn’t got off to the best of starts, as matchmaking went down as soon as it was supposed to go live on December 11 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET / 2 PM GMT.

Fortnite devs address Ballistic matchmaking issues

Those looking to try out the new mode for the first time were greeted with an error message, informing them that they couldn’t currently search for a game. Luckily, the devs are aware of the issue, as they posted on X saying: “We are working to resolve matchmaking errors for Ballistic and will provide an update when this is resolved.”

If you’re hoping to kill time by playing one of the many other Fortnite modes, you might be out of luck there too.

Shortly after acknowledging the issues with Ballistic, they shared a follow-up post revealing that “other experiences” within the game were also suffering from matchmaking issues.

The devs didn’t share a timeline of when the matchmaking problems would be resolved, but they’re actively working on a fix.

It likely shouldn’t be too long before Fortnite Ballistic, as well as Battle Royale and LEGO, are back online.