Epic Games has launched its latest seasonal event in Fortnite: Battle Royale, and as you might guess from the name, it's a winter-themed one. Operation Snowdown brings new activities and free rewards for all players to take part in and earn from now until January 5.

　　During Operation Snowdown, the NPC Snowmando will offer quests (such as tracking down Snowmando outpost locations) with a variety of new seasonal rewards, such as the Frosty Globes pickaxe, Shield Surprise back bling, and more gliders and wraps, plus another back bling and pickaxe. You can get a peek at some of these in the image below. There are also new and returning skins/outfits to purchase on the Fortnite item shop. Everyone can also now claim the Sing Along emote, which causes you to pull out a book and begin caroling, for free from the item shop--if you purchased it previously, you'll get your V-Bucks refunded.

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　　While you're playing, you'll also encounter new tools to get the job done. There are custom X-4 Stormwing planes that are wrapped in Christmas lights, special Chiller grenades, Sneaky Snowmandos (which disguise you as a snowman), and "Snowmando-wrapped presents."

　　Alongside all of this, there will be a mix of new and returning limited-time modes. Shockwave is a new mode where players try to bump into each other to send enemies flying into the storm, which deals extra damage--it sounds a bit like a sumo-style competition. Pickaxe Frenzy will be available as an LTM, and Air Royale will make a return. These modes will be on a rotation, although the Snowdown Shuffle playlist will allow you to play one of these at random.

　　It sounds as if you shouldn't expect any other major Fortnite updates for the remainder of the year, as Epic's announcement of this event notes that the development team is "tak[ing] off for the holidays." Earlier this month, Fortnite on PC got a new Performance mode to help it run on lower-end hardware, while PS5 and Xbox Series X players got 120fps support. Epic also launched the new Spy Within mode that is basically Among Us.