Epic Games just dropped a big bomb on the competitive Fortnite scene, and all the players beyond have been thoroughly displeased at it. The developer says: from now on, there will be times when Ranked Squads will be turned offline, which is already somewhat strange. What followed was the stink of political nastiness in the OCE region-rank mode for Trios and Squads has just been turned off. That is unheard of for the region!
The information was given through a tweet from HYPEX, the most trusted leaker, and the community’s reaction has been… a so-called mixture of confusion, anger, and utter doomposting impotence about the way the game’s going. An OCE player named N0XR puts it simply: “I fucking hate being OCE were a test region bro.” Ouch.
Honestly, he kind of has a point. Australian and New Zealand players are feeling it now. The shutdown is probably an indirect way of Epic telling them, “Sorry, not enough players.” FreshBiskit summarized the announcement for everyone else: “Translation. There’s not enough players to compete and we don’t want to fill Ranked with bots.” And Fresher’s point is valid. Who wants to go through recommended bot lobbies in ranked? It certainly doesn’t make it easier for the actual players who play there.
The community has seen behind this in many ways. On the more obvious side, people will say the game is dying. Mrvampzi tweeted: “The game is actually falling off and we’re seeing it happen in real-time,” and ImNicoReal simply declared, “The game is truly on its downfall,” giving the community’s atmosphere a dim shade.
But is the game really dying? Some players oppose this narrative. St1xMousey simply said, “It’s not dying,” in response to one of these all-against-the-wall comments, whereas Mr whopper gaming said, “Bro, we’ve seen it die for years, then Epic always come up with something to bring players back.” And that is quite historically accurate anyway. Fortnite has had its up’s and down’s but somehow has always managed to bounce back.
That might be the larger consideration behind what Caysekong is hinting at: “They’re just spreading us too thin. They need to bring that focus back to br and let the other modes be there as novelty. Except maybe reload.” That kind of is a very good point. With BR, Zero Build, Reload, Creative, and whatever other modes that are being added, maybe the player base is just too divided? Like, only so many players.
The sharpest pull is how that affects different players. Mike Jay tweeted, “We need ranked trios for 0 build btw,” suggesting some players want, like, more ranked options, not fewer. Meanwhile, Janzimc live bemoaned, “Can’t even find a Solo Match,” which could imply that matchmaking issues might be bigger than just the squad modes.
There is the timing as well. amac_nz comes through with this: “It makes sense seeing as the upcoming tournaments are solo and duos.” So, maybe this is Epic’s way of saying, “Let’s drop our focus to competitive formats that really matter in esports?” But shutting down entire game modes still feels a bit heavy-handed.
Tangible though the irritation might be, it is quite heavy: “bro making ranked squads a ltm might be the dumbest thing since mechs, its so stupid it hurts my brain and literally makes me mad how stupid it is,” said nottcyber. You know what? I feel that. Making a ranked mode into what’s essentially a limited time mode is… a choice.
That is motivation for some players to quit playing altogether. “At this point I’m just gonna go touch grass fr,” opined Jade Rylee on Twitter. Honestly, mood. When the game starts taking away features you enjoy, maybe it is time for a break.
But there have been worse moments for Fortnite. Remember that one time when they implemented mechs? Or the time it was shut down for some days during Chapter 1? That game always somehow managed to pull through. But, in a way, this feels different. Probably because it’s isolating a few regions, instead of being a worldwide problem.
One thing is clear: Epic needs to improve transparency about these changes. Who knows, players are wondering skullwolf, “Why turn it off?” All without any rationalization driving everyone to the worst assumption. Transparency goes a long way toward making a community smile.
Until then, OCE players are stuck with the rest of whatever ranked options there are. Players in other regions better enjoy Ranked Squads while they still can since it might be shut down during certain times soon. The Fortnite environment is changing, and not everyone is happy about it.
Until the end, this is going to be Epic testing the waters, to see which modes will survive and which ones would be drug into the dirt. It’s business, but it really does hurt when your favorite play style is taken away from you. Here’s to hoping for some more thought-out solution over just switching modes on and off like a light.
