I have previously shared my love of the game "Fortnite", which I play on the Xbox One. It's a game I have played off and on for the past year and a half now. Back in October, Epic Games decided after Season 10... no, sorry... Season "X", that they were going to go to Chapter 2, Season 1, instead of a Season 11. I guess this kinda makes sense...? ... if they don't want to have Season numbers get too high.
But it's how they've handled this "Chapter 2" that is alienating a ton of Fortnite players, myself included. They have delayed Season 2 of Chapter 2 twice now, their updates have been few and far between, it's way too hard to move around the map, and Fortnite streamers/YouTubers are struggling to find ways to make new and exciting content.
When Chapter 2, Season 1 was first released, it was supposed to end at the end of December. Then, it was pushed to February 6. And just recently, Epic Games pushed it yet again to February 20. I understand they want to make sure Season 2 is polished and ready (and they're switching game engines apparently), but I think in the end this may do more harm than good. I am not the only Fortnite player who long ago lost interest in the current season. What was the theme, anyway? In recent seasons, we had a futuristic theme, we had a time travel theme, we had a lava/volcano theme, and we had a snow/airplane theme. This season has been rather theme-less and boring. And this boring season keeps getting prolonged. The new map definitely took a while to get used to, but at this point, it's already lost interest and made a lot of players yearn for the old map. Boy, if Epic Games loses a huge chunk of Fortnite players between October and February, they should know why.
Perhaps worse than not having a clear theme to the current season is not having many updates. What new items/weapons were introduced? Bandage bazookas... um... harpoon guns... fishing rods... and those were all introduced at the beginning of the season. There was Winterfest and the Star Wars event, which were nice. Lightsabers were in the game, which was cool, but of course only for a limited time. People really wanted a lightsaber pickaxe, yet Epic Games did not listen to their players. Ever since, Fortnite has just been adding challenges, but not introducing anything new into the game. It's getting to the point where these challenges feel like work instead of fun. Most of the updates, while being few and far between, were just minor tweaks to the game and didn't really add new content.
The thing I personally hate most about the current season is the lack of mobility items. Mobility items are any items you can store in your inventory and that can help you move faster across the map, or you can use them to get away from an enemy you know you can't beat. Past mobility items included balloons, impulse grenades, rift-to-go's, shadow bombs, and bounce pads. There is not a single mobility item in the game at the moment (Harpoon guns do not count). To top it off, there are no land vehicles, and the only vehicles are boats. I'm glad they introduced boats, but I did not want that to be at the expense of every land vehicle. Where are ATK's? How about drift boards? Anything? Getting around the map has never been harder, and to make matters worse the zones that spawn on the map have often been towards the edges of the map, so if you landed on the opposite end, unless you spend little to no time looking for loot, you're screwed. Yes, players can swim as well, but unless you're swimming with a current, you're not going much faster than sprinting.
Content creators that play Fortnite are struggling, big time. Muselk has admitted to struggling to come up with ideas for videos. Lazarbeam barely plays Fortnite anymore, and in a recent video of his, he pleaded to Epic Games to give us updates and new things. Lachy has resorted to doing "Fashion Shows", which is critiquing people's outfits and emotes. These three guys I follow are struggling to come up with content because Fortnite is not introducing new guns, game modes, or changes to the map. These YouTubers/streamers rely upon the game for updates so they can make videos that they can then make money off of. This is their livelihoods, and I think Epic Games has sacrificed too much to try to make a great Season 2. I guess the silver lining is that it forced content creators to get creative, but they are fully capable of doing so with routine updates.
All I can say is this next season better be worth the wait. I played a lot during the Star Wars and Winterfest events, but I have played only a little since. It's just the same thing over and over. Epic Games has delayed Season 2 of Chapter 2 by almost two months. There is going to be a lot riding on how well the next season is received and how well it performs. If there are bugs or if the changes aren't received well, we may look back on the introduction of Chapter 2 being the start of the end of Fortnite. I hate to say it, but the next season may make or break the future of this game. Some streamers and YouTubers have already speculated that the game is dying or dead, and if Chapter 2 doesn't live up to expectations, there won't be any speculation anymore. Epic Games won't completely stop adding to Fortnite, but a lack of players could result in even fewer updates and events.
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