We’re noticing a server wide lag / stutter / hitch (whatever the technical term here should be) when players join in progress. Testing with friends we’ve found that all players in the game experience a sharp lag at the same time that our friend begins to connect to the game from the lobby. From in game, there will be a lag spike, and then a few seconds later the feed prints “{PlayerName} has joined the game!”
Please select what you are reporting on:
Creative
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Assets
Steps to Reproduce
Play 5253-8468-3364 or another high activity game. Have another player load into the game, the joining player will go through the following stages when matchmaking:
Matchmaking: Joining server…
Preparing…
Preparing… Initiating travel to server…
Connecting…
Alternatively, play the game (5253-8468-3364) and wait for players to Join in Progress.
Expected Result
Playters in the lobby should not experience a huge lag spike.
I’m also experiencing the exact same issue, and honestly it’s very frustrating. Every time a player joins in progress the whole server hitches badly, which completely breaks the flow of gameplay. This ruins the fun especially in UEFN puzzle/island experiences where smooth performance is super important.
It’s definitely not just a small lag, it feels like the entire server freezes for a moment, which makes the game unplayable at times. Hoping this can get fixed soon because it really kills the enjoyment.
In Fortnite Chapter 7, whenever a player joins my lobby during an active match in Battle Royale or Reload, my entire team experiences a severe lag spike. This issue has gotten noticeably worse this season and frequently results in our deaths, as the lag hits hardest during fights. To prevent these game-breaking spikes, I’ve had to completely block players from joining my lobby mid-match. The lag is clearly caused by Fortnite’s real-time synchronization of the joining player’s data (cosmetics, profile, etc.), which should be down-prioritized or deferred until after the match ends—there’s no urgency for this non-critical data to sync while we’re in combat.
Details:
Platform: PC
Region: NA East
Connection: 1Gbps fiber, consistently low ping
Modes Affected: Battle Royale, Reload
Steps to Reproduce: Start a match (solo or squad), have a friend or party member join the lobby while in-game (especially during a fight), and observe the immediate lag spike affecting the entire team.
This is a high-impact performance issue that directly ruins matches. Please consider lowering the priority of lobby syncs or caching player data on login to eliminate these unnecessary mid-game disruptions.
