Fortnite has been super active and creative, however, their biggest problem was their range. The most reliable source HYPEX has spilled the beans that Epic Games wants to push back or completely scrap a big part of the last quarter of the year content. What a nightmare! I mean, they might have been trying to squeeze a whole mini season between Fortnitemares and Christmas and it just didn’t work.
Anyways, let’s check out the list of the stuff that was going to be axed because it is really mind-blowing. One of the items was an ‘Ice Head’ that was designed to eliminate headshots—imagine a shootout with this going on! Further, there was the ‘Delulu Freeze Pistol’ and Freeze Grenade that would create utter mayhem. Perhaps they were better off not being allowed? But hold on; there is even more crazy stuff. The entire Battle Royale mode for 5-player teams and a Gulag-style mechanic were canceled. Moreover, Places of Interest with Simpsons characters, such as a Retirement Home, plus a ‘Simpsons Makeup Shotgun’ and a Donut item. Yes, I’m not joking. Even though the whole Simpsons season was over, there were still ideas for adding more to Springfield. What an odd timing, right?
One player, Anya Summers, seems to have shared this very confusion with her comment: “Why were they talking about adding Simpson stuff AFTER the Simpsons season??” Good question! It appears that someone took these ideas out of the drawer and said, ‘Oops! We forgot to use these!’ But perhaps they are just postponing them, not completely wiping them out. Another user, FamousSession, suggested that “There’s no way they’re scrapped. Besides, we still have 3 encrypted sets.” So, there’s still a glimmer of hope for this bizarre and entertaining gear.
Like always, the reaction of the community was a mixture of emotions and consisted of hype, confusion and even some side conversations which went off the track. Some people are simply not happy with the removal of certain items. One person expressed the sentiment by saying, ‘5 player mode scrapped🙁.’ Another was asking, ‘When is plantina going to be available omg I need her,’ which, well, priorities, we totally get your point. But the debate led to… ranked play arguing? Completely out of the blue, a new thread emerged with users debating the Ballistic ranked season and sharing their opinions on how easy or hard it is to reach the Unreal rank. One user, Timbit, boasted about being the best in Unreal games, while another, tgraybird, countered with the claim of facing a full stack of top-tier players. It’s just the classic online gamer back-and-forth; totally unrelated yet somehow still happening.
While the confusion was at its peak, there were still some trying to clarify the mystery of ‘why’. User Gothfromdbd speculated, ‘Most probably they’re trying to do too much at once, depends how many people are actually working on these things.’ This is possibly the most sensible viewpoint. Epic is managing the main Battle Royale, Festival, Rocket Racing, Lego mode, and continuous updates all at once. Something has to give. Another interesting speculation came from Goblin Dave who said that maybe the Ice Head mechanic got transformed into Jebediah’s head item from the current season. Good detective work!
Moreover, to the game state discussion debate the Fortnite talk is never complete. One player, oli, simply asked HYPEX, ‘I know that you are not a support of Fortnite but do you happen to know anything about the sbmm? It changed a few days ago, and it’s literally unplayable unless you sweat the game 24/7.’ Ah, Skill-Based Matchmaking. The never-ending source of frustration. It’s something that many players feel, especially when the game seems to be redirecting its focus or resources to the other side.
But what about the whole issue and its potential meaning for the players of Fortnite? To be honest, it is just a peek into the chaotic world of live game development. The plans change, the features get cut off, the timelines are messed up. The introduction of that mini-season appears to have been the spanner in the works, with Epic having to look through the tree and decide what they can actually ship. This does not necessarily mean that cutting off the bloated content always leads to the more polished final product but it surely keeps us thinking about what could have been. A 5-player mode must be so much fun with a larger squad and who doesn’t want a Gulag? Now that would be a direct hit towards Warzone. Maybe those ideas are just on ice—pun very much intended—for a future release.
The key takeaway from this scenario is that Fortnite’s pipeline is insane. They are always looking for ways… Meanwhile, on other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox, the conversation continues.
