'Fortnite' will add more audio cues to help you hunt rivals

Play enough Fortnite and you'll know that audio cues can make all the difference -- footsteps are your cue to get ready for a fight (or, let's be honest, run for the hills). To that end, Epic has offered a sneak peek at the development and testing of Season 6 spatial audio updates that could save your hide. It wants higher-frequency, higher-contrast footsteps that help you pinpoint someone's location, and better spatial audio cues for gliders. It also wants to provide more sounds for in-air movement that doesn't involve a glider, such as falling or launching off a Bouncer pad.

Epic also acknowledged that the audio system itself doesn't always help you out. Some sounds either don't play or are "lost in the mix," the company said. It wants to pinpoint those moments and fix them so that you're never caught off-guard.

There's no guarantee that you'll see all these changes during Season 6, or at least not at launch. To call them welcome would be an understatement, mind you. I've had quite a few games where paying close attention to sound helped me stay alive, and that audio assist could prove particularly vital for Fortnite's growing esports scene.