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Fortnite developer Epic Games is taking the game offline for server maintenance alongside the release of update 40.20. The latest period of server downtime kicks off at 9am BST UK time on the morning of April 16. While server downtime is never a good thing, fans can at least download and install a new update during the maintenance. You'll need to install the update in order to play the game once server downtime comes to an end.

The news was announced by Epic Games on X, alongside a confirmation of the server downtime.

"Showdown Act II begins. Save the World goes free-to-play," reads an Epic tweet.

"Downtime for v40.20 begins at 4 AM ET (8 AM UTC) with matchmaking ending shortly beforehand."

For UK fans, this means that Fortnite will be taken offline in full at 9am BST, while matchmaking will be disabled at 8.30am UK time.

The server status page confirms that the game will be offline for a grand total of 2-hours.

This means Fortnite and all companion game modes should be back online from 11am BST UK time at the earliest.

Daily Express will update this article with all the latest developments, so keep checking back for confirmation about the Fortnite server maintenance.

In terms of what fans can expect, update 40.20 coincides with the launch of Save the World as a free-to-play game.

The free-to-play Save the World game features a combination of solo and co-op play with PvE gameplay.

Players must build defences to survive, all the while rescuing survivors and experiencing an "epic story".

The game features more than 150 weapons and heroes, as well as a variety of character classes, including Soldier, Ninja, Outlander and Construction.

That's on top of the release of Act 2 of Showdown, which features new Milestones and unlockables, including a new Infinity Blade.