Fortnite is Back...But It Never Really Went Anywhere

Fortnite

is back for another round with Chapter 2, which launched (again) worldwide yesterday. After a massive world-ending black hole event — dubbed "The End" — consumed everything (which included the previous island, lobby, and game itself), Fortnite has finally returned after being offline for almost 40 hours. The internet went into a frenzy this past Sunday, with players and parents panicking after not knowing what happened to it. Many were worried about the cosmetic items they had purchased, as well as the status of their in-game currency known as V-Bucks.

Epic Games pulled off one of the biggest marketing stunts in history by going into a full-blown "blackout" taking everything offline — from the game's servers, to the company's social media accounts, even locking the popular r/FortniteBR subreddit from posting anything new. Due to the lack of communication, many players around the world were speculating on when — and if — their favorite game would ever return.

Well, I'm here to tell you that Fortnite is back, and arguably better than ever. The new season brings with it a complete overhaul,, including a brand-new map with plenty of new points of interest to explore. Besides the new island, there are new water-based mechanics including swimming, speedboat combat, and fishing. But Epic's best new addition is actually a subtraction: it simplified the game considerably, removing much of the clutter like the convoluted and confusing loot pool, and really boiling play down to its core roots. If Season X was a celebration of everything Fortnite's achieved over the years since launch, Chapter 2 is a return to form.

Gone are the many variations on the same weapon types, traps, grenades, and throwable objects. Epic has cut the loot pool down to four tiers of eight core weapons: the Assault Rifle, Burst Assault Rifle, Pump Shotgun, Tactical (read: semi-auto) Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Pistol, Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle, and Rocket Launcher — in what Epic is calling a "streamlined weapon arsenal." Additionally, there are far fewer healing items, only a single grenade type, and one trap. Mobility has also been reduced significantly, as hoverboards and grapplers (plus the controversial B.R.U.T.E. mechs that were added last season) are no longer available. Epic has also simplified the leveling system in Chapter 2, offering more experience than ever that, in turn, earns you more in-game rewards.

Epic is clearly trying to do something really special with Fortnite. Its team has elevated it above the rest of the "games-as-a-service" genre in a variety of ways, most notably by creating a number of live experiences that can only be observed in-game. From the rocket launching way back in Season 4, to the record-breaking live concert by Marshmello in Season 8 that drew more than 10 million players/viewers in-game (and another 43 million on Marshmello's YouTube replay of the event), Epic has achieved something that no other game offers today. It has also crafted an intricate narrative that has been woven throughout the past seven seasons, enthralling its extremely passionate community and leading to an incomparable amount of hype and discussion amongst its players. Epic has managed to keep Fortnite relevant - or at the very least, engaging - week after week for roughly the past two years, which is truly an incredible feat considering the battle royale genre isn' t known for its storylines.

Every Map Location in Fortnite Chapter 2: Season 1

And it's not just in-game events that see Epic rising above the competition, either. Earlier this year, the competitive Battle Royale held the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, drawing in over 2.3 million concurrent viewers across Twitch and YouTube, making it the most-watched competitive gaming competition of all-time. The winner, a 16-year-old who goes by the handle Bugha, took home a prize of $3 Million, as well as the inaugural title of Fortnite World Cup Champion.

Fortnite may not be the cultural phenomenon it once was, but its audience is stronger than ever with Epic announcing earlier this year that the user base has grown to over 250 million players. However, since January of 2019, players streaming and watching Fortnite has been on a steady decline. That's not to say the community was nonexistent (there were still roughly 100,000 people concurrently watching on a monthly basis), but games like Minecraft, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft have consistently been drawing more viewers as of late. But, during the most recent event, Twitch concurrent viewership for Fortnite spiked at over 1.6 Million — the highest of any game on the platform — and that's without Ninja streaming there any longer. Viewership was so high that it literally broke Twitch (and Mixer, too). With Fortnite's relaunch and the beginning of Chapter 2, it has once again claimed its throne atop Twitch.

Fortnite is definitely back in a big way...even though it never really went anywhere to begin with.

Matthew Adler is a freelance journalist for IGN who can't crank 90s like the kids, but still enjoys seeing Fortnite evolve week-in and week-out, and can't wait to see what Epic has up its sleeves for the next big event. You can follow him on Twitter @matthewadler.

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