Fortnite Updates Will Make Victory Less About The "Just Build lol" Strategy

Like other battle royale games, Fortnite: Battle Royale offers a wide variety of ways that any match can play out. But come to the final circle of a round, and you likely know what to expect: Players building elaborate defenses and wielding shotguns and rocket launchers. It can get a bit tiresome, and Victory Royales can feel out of reach for those who aren't experts at building. Developer Epic Games is aware of all this, and it's looking to mix things up.

In a post on Fortnite's website, Epic explained that it plans to "continue to make changes to evolve the game to give players multiple ways to counter each other in combat, and create more strategies to win the game." It also specifically addresses the notion that building is the only way to win: "It's important to support a variety of late game strategies, that don't boil down to 'just build lol.' We strongly believe that the evolution of Fortnite supports a wide range of play styles and counterplay. Currently, the superiority of shotguns, rockets, and uncapped building are such a dominant play style in the final circle that most other strategies are being drowned out."

Epic said it's already made some changes to address these concerns and will continue to do so. Weapon balance is being looked at, as is the resource economy, which it said includes something like a cap on the number of resources you can hold. The "next few weeks" will see Epic continuing to look at changes it can make, and it says it wants to hear from players about what they want to see.

"You should be able to find Victory Royales through multiple strategies," it said. "Shotguns should be strong, but other weapons have room to grow. Not every encounter should have to end in a build-off. We want to empower you to showcase your skill, strategy, and tactics in all variety of ways."

The ability to build ramps, walls, and floors was initially the thing that most distinguished Fortnite from competitors like PUBG, but Epic has done an impressive job in expanding the game since launch last year. Just how much it's willing to deemphasize the need to build to win remains to be seen, but it's a positive sign to see that it's willing to address what can feel like a stale endgame experience.