Top Fortnite streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins discussed the future of the game and how developer Epic Games can keep it relevant and maintain its popularity.
Since the release of the battle royale mode in September 2017, Fortnite has hit numerous record breaking player counts, with a total of 200 million users.
It has managed this by continually updating the game with map changes, new cosmetics, limited time modes and other changes which keep the game fresh and have players regularly returning, season after season.
One of the recent changes, which Ninja highlights specifically has having reignited his love of the game, was the adjustment to shotguns, making them more powerful once again.
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Weapon balancing and new weapon additions are often the most controversial changes made to the game, but Ninja insists that players must ‘trust’ Epic Games and their decision making.
“All [Epic] have to do, is continue to reinvest in the continued success of their game and not sell out and choke with updates, and this game will be on top for a very long time. As long as the skins, the dances and all the emote and stuff stays fresh with pop culture, whatever’s hot, everyone’s going to keep buying those things.”
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Ninja goes on to say that constant negativity, especially from Fortnite ‘influencers’ will not help anything, even if there are genuine grievances with the game.
“Always voice your opinion, but there’s so many people so quick to just jump on the negative bandwagon” he explains, “guess what, you’re still going to play the game, so why tear it apart? I’ve seen it happen too many times, where people just completely destroy the game that they love.”
While he doesn’t mention games specifically, Ninja is likely referring to titles such as Halo, H1Z1, PUBG or even Call of Duty, which have very vocal communities – all too happy to voice when they are unhappy with something.
While the popularity of some other once dominant games is waining, Fortnite continues to grow, but Ninja knows from past experience how quickly that momentum can stunt if the developers and community move in the wrong direction.