Ninja asks Fortnite players to be “honest” in push for aim assist nerf

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has had enough. He says he “can’t do anything,” but the community can. He’s rallying Fortnite players ⁠— specifically high-level controller users⁠— to demand Epic nerfs aim assist on PC and bring players back to mouse and keyboard.

Fortnite controller players have come under intense scrutiny from the community. Streamers often complain about them when they get beamed in-game. In tournaments, lobbies on PC are dominated by controller players.

The debate has always come down to the aim assist benefit controller players get when playing on PC. While on console it can be an even playing field, on PC, the controller aim assist has been likened to an “aimbot” by players like Ninja.

Epic Games

Aim assist is a contentious topic in Fortnite.

However, without anything being done on Epic’s end to nerf it, the player base is growing tired.

After this week’s FNCS Invitational was once again dominated by controller players, Ninja posted a video on Twitter asking the community to rally together to create change.

“It’s going to be up to credible, top competitive controller players who have a huge influence to reach out to Epic and be vocal about [aim assist],” he said. “We all, as a unit, want it to be more balanced.

• Read more: Fortnite leak hints at huge map changes coming to The Agency

“Controller aim assist [on PC] is performing way better than it does on Xbox and PlayStation. People have to be vocal about it, especially the players that are using it.”

Ninja has stuck to mouse and keyboard while others like Fortnite World Cup solos champion Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf made the switch to controller earlier in the year (albeit briefly).

A former Halo pro, Ninja would know his way around the sticks, but he believes that in its current state, it’s too strong.

• Read more: Ninja thinks Fortnite should copy Warzone’s player count

“If we get more people speaking up about it, and being honest about it, we can actually get a nerf or a change,” he said. “[We] can make it more balanced and healthy.”

The Mixer star didn’t criticize the players who swapped to controller, but rather the system itself that Epic has developed. “Controller players are amazing, [there’s] incredible talent. I just want everyone to be happy and I want the game to thrive.”

Ninja’s criticism of Fortnite’s controller aim assist stems back to over a year ago now, but few changes have been implemented. Since World Cup 2019, and then the turn into Chapter 2, more pros have hung up the mouse and keyboard and picked up the sticks.

With Season 3 on the horizon, players might see some changes coming to aim assist. We will just have to wait and see if Epic has something in-store, or if more pros will make the jump.