Epic Games is seriously bringing in the heavyweights for the next Fortnite occasion, and to put it mildly, the response has been very mixed. To be exact, it was quite mixed. The news about the long-expected Fortnite event with Clix, NickEh30, and Ninja’s participation just came along and now the players’ emotions are all over the place.
First, we could talk about the news itself – Clix, NickEh30, and Ninja are the three absolute rulers of Fortnite streaming history. Initially, Ninjas were the face of the game when it reached the peak of popularity, NickEh30 became known for his family-friendly content, and Clix being one of the best competitive players was another factor contributing to the hype created around the event. Is it not a good thing if all three of them are together creating hype for the event?
Responses to the announcement have been very mixed. There is a user adamman45552317 who is very happy, describes it as “fire,” and on the contrary, there are some players who only ask why these specific creators were picked. One user put the question very straightforwardly, “Who tf cares about them?” which is a fair question but at the same time, these are the top names of the Fortnite community.
Moreover, NickEh30 is surrounded by controversy. Quite a few comments refer to him as “NickEh30/Transphobe” and there is a long discussion where people debate if it is a sign of being problematic or not to distance oneself from particular discussions. One of the users came to his defense saying “Why do you care if someone who streams a game for kids avoids talking about a particular issue?” and other people seem to have a different problem with his approach to some topics.
Then there is Ninja – the guy with blue hair and the legend. A few comments are raising doubts about his relevance in 2024, with one user even asking “I genuinely wnat to know who actually gives a fuck about ninja anymore?” That is a really strong and harsh statement but it does make a point about the changes in the streaming world since Fortnite’s peak.
The Clix reactions are really fascinating – on one hand there are people who find him “weird” and “not relevant anymore,” while on the other, there are those who refer to him as “the goat” and stand up for him. It is almost like everyone has completely different views on these creators and whether they are deserving of being part of this event or not.
What tops it all is that there actually is such a division in the Fortnite community about this thing. There are players who literally cry out for different creators, e.g. “we want loserfruit”, and there are those who are completely fed up with the whole thing of creators’ inclusion and they post comments like “Take away the creators on Fortnite, they have now spoiled the game.” That is indeed a pretty strong vote.
Things are so confounding that it has become a case of one user asking, “Is this real?” which is quite a reasonable question to ask given the number of leaks and rumors that are constantly circulating in the Fortnite community. Nevertheless, the original tweet came from a reliable leaker, so it is more than likely that it is the real deal.
An interesting aspect of the whole thing is that amidst all the drama, these three creators still represent threefold the great appeal of Fortnite – Ninja for the casual/meme audience, NickEh30 for the family-friendly crowd and Clix for the competitive players. Epic certainly wishes to engage all possible segments of their gamer base with this move.
But, on the other hand, the public reaction does signal that the community might have gradually moved away from such older creator personas? Or is it that the public has simply become weary of the same faces being spotlighted? There were many comments pointing out different creators who should have been featured instead, thus implying that people do not oppose creator events in general – they just want different ones.
It is also worth noting that several comments were discovered in various languages, which is indicative of how global the Fortnite community actually is. For example, there were some French comments being translated, where they were talking about some message bugs and their “wife”, which is a bit random, but ok.
Another interesting factor is the timing of it all – Fortnite Chapter 5 is still quite new, and I think we might be nearing the end of Season 1? This event could either be the grand finale of the current season or an introduction to Season 2. Either way, having these three major figures in the game points to the fact that it will be a big event taking place.
It is clearly seen through the various reactions that Fortnite players have very strong feelings about which creators should be given the spotlight during the official events. Different people are: excited, disappointed, confused, or simply done with it. The division is very real, and it proves that PlayStation cannot cater to all audiences, just as Xbox faces similar challenges in the gaming landscape.
