Fortnite players are not happy with the game’s latest title update. Implemented at the end of last month, the update in question removed the health bonus for eliminating other players and made it harder to harvest materials. Many Fortnite gamers, including prominent streamer Ninja, have taken to social media to express their displeasure and demand Epic revert the changes.
The health and materials bonuses in question were first added to the game via an update in February. Epic states that the removal of these bonuses was implemented after gathering player data over the past several months. According to Epic, the health and materials bonuses were encouraging “encouraging an unhealthy level of aggressive play.” Ninja (real name Tyler Blevins) released a short video explaining what he believes to be the reasoning behind the changes:
My thoughts on the most recent Fortnite update. I could have rambled on for 10 minutes but this is the simple vid. pic.twitter.com/QjCwwUkQyd
— Ninja (@Ninja) March 27, 2019
In the video, Blevins states that he believes the changes are meant to make the game more approachable for less experienced players while simultaneously encouraging professionals to switch to the game’s Arena mode. Arena mode has retained the health and shield bonuses, but continuing issues with the mode have led to additional outcry from professional players. In particular, wait times to enter a match in the Arena can stretch as high as 20 or even 30 minutes, and players are concerned that those wait times will only get longer as more players shift to the mode.
Pros are particularly irate with the $40 million Fortnite World Cup beginning on April 13th. These changes have made it difficult for professionals to practice for the event, as they’ll have to endure Arena’s long queues rather than simply jumping into a standard Battle Royale match. Streamers have also expressed concerns that because the update has made it harder to get kills, their streams will attract less viewers.
Reddit and Twitter are awash with other players demanding Epic revert the changes. For a brief period after the update, streams of the card game UNO became more popular on Twitch than Fortnite streams. Though Epic does enjoy major support from a community of Fortnite streamers and professional players, the vast majority of Fortnite players are simply casual gamers. It’s these gamers that Epic is aiming to please by implementing these changes, so it remains to be seen whether the sheer numbers of this majority or the popularity of the streamers will win out.
Epic has yet to comment on the outcry, and with the game receiving weekly updates, it’s still possible that the changes may be reverted. In the meantime, however, players can enjoy the new explosive Boom Bow weapon, or hop into a match of the returning LTM Sniper Shootout.
