Fortnite's hated mechs are now automatically self-destructing

Launch a game of Fortnite now and watch its mechs drop down at the start. As soon as they touch the ground, they immediately disappear.

Is this Epic finally caving to player pressure to #removethemech? Well yes, probably. But there's also a lore reason.

In-game, this is being played as part of Fortnite's ongoing Visitor storyline, which has seen the mysterious time traveller return and use his future-tech to try and sort the island's current time crisis.

Display screens within the Visitor's adopted Dusty Depot base (where he's just finished constructing a new rocket) show he has now infected the mechs with some kind of virus.

To what end? Well, we're not sure. This weekend will see mission logs from the Visitor available to collect in-game, and next week we're expecting his grand plan to fall into place as this season's finale live event nears.

Honestly, though, for many in the community who hate the robots, he'll just have done players a favour - even if recent patches have brought the mechs down to size.

It's a fair bet the mechs won't be part of Fortnite season 11 - for which all signs point to a drastically refreshed new Fortnite map.