Why Fortnite Chapter 4 is so laggy (& how you can fix it)

Fortnite Chapter 4 is so laggy that players have been complaining for well over a month now. What was supposed to be the next phase of the storyline has transformed into a "lag-fest" for some. While this may seem like an over exaggeration, it's not far from the truth.

There are innumerable videos posted on Twitter showcasing just how bad the lag can get. The community on Reddit has also taken to the platform to air their concerns. Despite complaints being filed left, right, and center, Epic Games is yet to get to the bottom of things.

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Why is Fortnite Chapter 4 so laggy?

Based on the information that's available, there are several minor issues that are hampering the general gameplay experience. Apart from bugs and glitches, the main culprit behind the lag is likely a combination of server load and Unreal Engine 5.1. Let's break it down:

Server lag and overload

With the Chapter 4 Season 1 Battle Pass featuring collaborations with franchises such as Doom and The Witcher, a massive number of players are excited to obtain the skins. Furthermore, with the storyline taking a massive step forward, many are interested to see how the narrative develops.

For this reason, it's understandable that there's a spike of players on the servers every now and then, which in turn leads to server load. For instance, another surge will occur in three days when the next "Midseason Drops" challenge goes live since players will try to grind out 10 Account Levels before calling it quits.

During this timeframe of a few hours/days, the number of players active in the game will increase, and those who do not have a very strong internet connection may experience lag and latency input.

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Unreal Engine 5.1

Unreal Engine 5.1 is a game-changer in terms of visuals in Fortnite. Based on feedback from the community, the game has never looked or felt more beautiful than it does now. While the engine improves the game's aesthetics, it does require a significant amount of computing/processing power from the device running the game.

High-end PCs will have no problem running Fortnite in maxed-out or high-mid settings, but other devices may struggle. For instance, despite Epic Games deploying a maintenance patch on December 31, 2022, to Xbox One X to address a couple of issues, players are still experiencing lag-spikes during gameplay.

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How to fix the lag in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1?

When hardware-related issues encounter overloaded servers, problems are bound to arise. Although players are not being kicked out of their sessions anymore, they still have to deal with numerous problems. With that said, there is no way to "fix" the lag in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1.

Since all updates related to performance and maintenance have to come from Epic Games, there's nothing that a user can do. At most, they can restart the game if their device hangs during gameplay. Another option is to lower the game's graphical settings to lighten the load on the system.

However, if the aforementioned problem is not related to the device, but rather originates in the game itself, this will not be enough to fix the problem. The best route for players to take when lag occurs in Fortnite is to monitor things for a while and assess the situation.

If the lag is too much, the best option will be to call it a day and wait until the situation improves. It's always better to sit out a few matches than get beamed at by opponents even while hiding behind cover. This may not be an ideal solution, but it's the only one available given the circumstances.

With all that being said, things will get better as Chapter 4 progresses. Looking at the Epic Games' Trello Board for Fortnite, the developers have their hands full with numerous bugs and are actively fixing things. Given that their company-wide break just ended, it shouldn't take long for them to start addressing the lag issues.