Tired of getting destroyed in Fortnite Battle Royale? For those looking to get into this ridiculously popular online game, here is good news. After some upgrades from developers Epic, Playground mode is set to return come 25 July (Wednesday). Some of the improvements to the mode is that squad selection (four friends per group) will be possible this time around, while more info is set to be revealed in the 5.10 update patch notes.

As they say, different strokes for different folks, with Playground mode allowing one to, “Battle and build to your heart's content with an extended period of time to roam around the map as well as increased resource generation.” What this ensures is for you to get to grips with the game and upping your skills before getting sniped in the Battle Royale main mode.

Today is also an auspicious occasion, with 24 July being Fortnite’s first birthday. If you talk about a major success story, this is it. After Battle Royale was released it jumped to a respectable ten million players in just two weeks. From there it snowballed, with Epic noting 125 million players have played the game in less than a year. A birthday usually means gifts, and some birthday cosmetics are up for grabs up until the 7th of August. And what might this be you ask?

Epic set the following targets:

• Deal 1,000 damage to opponents to unlock the Fortnite Birthday! Emoticon
• Dance at different birthday cakes to unlock the Happy Birthday! Spray
• Play 14 matches to unlock 5,000 XP.

Players need to complete all three challenges to earn the Birthday Cake Back Bling, while those who complete the Fortnite Birthday questline in Save the World will earn the Birthday Brigade Ramirez Hero! There’s also Birthday Llamas which may or may not contain Heroes and weapons from every event this year.

Playground mode returns on July 25th!

Set up squad battles with new team select options, skirt around in an ATK and gear up with lots more loot.

Look out for the full list of changes in the 5.10 patch notes. pic.twitter.com/7bK1Wgg98U

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) July 23, 2018