Epic Games has caused a stir in the Fortnite community due to a number of updates in Season 10 and popular Twitch streamer Imane ‘Pokimane‘ Anys has suggested it will keep her away from playing the game altogether.
Since the launch of Season X, and with it the addition of BRUTE mechs, many streamers have ‘boycotted’ Fortnite Battle Royale, many opting to play Minecraft instead.
This has resulted in a boost of viewership for Minecraft and the trend looks set to continue as the v10.20 update from Epic Games significantly nerfed ‘Turbo Building’ – a popular setting used by most competitive players.
Pokimane, who originally grew to popularity on Twitch through League of Legends, is just as well known these days as a Fortnite streamer, but she too has dropped the game due to the changes made by Epic.
Following the Turbo Building nerf, which for many was the last straw, Pokimane tweeted: “Crazy how everyone expected Fortnite to fix their game but instead they did the opposite.”
Like many other content creators, Pokimane is going “back to Minecraft”, at least until Epic Games make the changes that they want.
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crazy how everyone expected Fortnite to fix their game but instead they did the opposite :zipper_mouth_face:
back to minecraft we go..
— pokimane (@pokimanelol) August 27, 2019
The boycott hasn’t worked thus far, though, as Epic have stood firm on their changes. They argued that the addition of the BRUTE mechs was in-keeping with their “philosophy” for Fortnite, for example.
As for Turbo Building, the developers listed four reasons for the change: “It favors players with low ping in disproportionate ways; Turtling disproportionately favors defender; Easy to accidentally place multiple pieces “at once”; We want building to be a bit more deliberate.”
Mixer streamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins said it would be an interesting test of Epic Games’ resolve if every content creator stopped playing the game for a week.
The Fortnite player base is much larger than just the YouTubers and streamers though, and it appears as though the priority is being given to less skilled players, so to encourage new people to give the battle royale a try.