Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins claims Epic “lost their way” with their hugely popular battle royale title Fortnite in Chapter 2, after a “massive f**king disconnect” between the fans and the players that they still haven’t quite recovered from.
Ninja has always been one of the more outspoken members of the huge Fortnite community. The streamer always speaks his mind — even if it earns him a “toxic” label — in an effort to help fix the popular title.
Chapter 2 has been a mixed bag for Fortnite, and Ninja knows it. In fact, the Mixer star said, it’s because Epic “lost their way” after the season-ending black hole event last October; they have become “disconnected” from the fans.
“You know… I’m going to be honest, I talked to the guys [at Epic]. I don’t know what’s going on but I know more than others: Epic lost their way, they got lost. They lost the communication, they lost the community. They just got lost,” he said.
“Along the way there was just this f**king massive disconnect. Something was dropped, and it was never picked up. I’m not saying it’s particularly a bad state, but that’s why Fortnite is in the state it’s in. Updates, patch notes, everything.”
Epic needs to focus on Fortnite gameplay, Ninja says
Fortnite has struggled to please its fans so far in Chapter 2. Gameplay has had a question mark over it so far this year, and the new map was not well received. 2020 has also seen patch notes simply vanish.
That’s not to say this year has been a major bust for Fortnite. Ninja pointed to the title’s huge crossover events like its Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker trailer reveal, and Travis Scott concert event as “big wins” for Epic. They even have a Christopher Nolan feature film screening later this year.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“Yes we’re getting cool shit, we had Star Wars, a Star Wars trailer, the Travis Scott event was one of the coolest things ever been seen in gaming history,” he said, before adding Epic “need” to turn their attention to gameplay next.
“The events were dope as sh*t, but that’s not gameplay in Fortnite, and that [gameplay] is Fortnite. The amazing things that Fortnite can do have split from the gameplay… but I feel like they’re coming back though man.”
The related segment begins at 3:56 in the video below.
There are, of course, a few things Ninja still thinks needs some work in Fortnite too before it actually hits its peak again though. One is the player count: the Mixer star called for Epic to copy Call of Duty’s Warzone last week.
Blevins has also been one of the most vocal figures in the ongoing war against aim assist in Fortnite. He believes the best way forward now is for controller players to be “honest” about the feature so Epic can properly nerf the “aimbot” assist.