Fortnite Chapter 2’s Bugged Hideouts Are Turning Players Into Smoke

Fortnite‘s spectacular rebirth last week made headlines around the world.

Having been devoured by a black hole at Season X: Out of Time’s climax, Epic Games took the battle royale’s servers offline to keep up the facade of Fortnite‘s demise. 24 hours later, the title was back up and running, granting fans access to Battle Island once more, though the war-torn map was nowhere to be found. Instead, new battleground Apollo had been introduced to take its place, greeting audiences with a wealth of new locations to explore and gameplay features to experience.

One of those is Hideouts and, as the name suggests, they open up a brand new element of strategy by allowing players to get the jump on opponents. Presented in the form of dumpsters and Hay Bales, interacting with either object prompts player avatars to conceal themselves within, making for a perfect getaway plan from close pursuers or as a hasty ambush plan. So far, the sandbox addition appears to have been well-received by the majority, though that sentiment could take a turn for the worse if recent developments are any indication.

In attempting to share some foul-smelling trash with a teammate, Reddit user Bigdog-475 discovered a bizarre bug, which you can see via the video found at the link below. In it, Bigdog is ejected from the Hideout immediately after jumping in, not as a human, but a cloud of smoke. What’s more, their new ethereal form starts steadily rising into the atmosphere, not allowing the no-doubt by now bewildered player to regain control. Several seconds later, the mist spontaneously reverts to its original humanoid shape and plummets back down to Earth, putting the poor soul into a downed state requiring revival.

The cause? I wouldn’t even know where to begin speculating, but fear not – Epic’s on the case. A member of the development team says the studio is looking into the cause and – hopefully – it will have a fix ready to go soon. For now, however, it’s probably best to steer clear of Fortnite‘s Hideouts, lest you succumb to a similar fate.