Fortnite's creators have explained why they made perhaps the game's most controversial ever change.
In recent days, Fortnite has added a new feature called the BRUTE, a huge mech that gives the person who finds it vast amounts of power. The person who uses it will often win, even if they are a relative newcomer to the game and are less skillful than other players.
Now developers Epic say that is exactly what they wanted to achieve with the new update, and that it is precisely in line with the philosophy of Fortnite.
Respond to the controversy over the development – which has led to fan campaigns uniting under the hashtag "#RemoveTheMech"– Epic said the update had been added in part to level the playing field.
"The mission of Fortnite is to bring players of all skill levels together to have a fun experience where anyone can win," they wrote in a blog post.
"For example, everyone having a shot at that first elimination or Victory Royale moment and the satisfying feeling that comes with it. Right now, we know there are players out there who have never had that opportunity."
Epic said that players who had long struggled to eliminate other people were now getting more, according to data from in the game. And that was not at the cost of eliminations by experienced players, which have stayed steady.
Developers also said that thy had intended the BRUTE to add "spectacle and entertainment" to the game. "Bringing these moments to the game every week means there is always a new way to enjoy and experience the game," they wrote.
Epic said that it had made some changes to the BRUTE but that it was happy with the way it was performing within the game.
"BRUTE encounters should feel like a unique engagement and not be the dominant experience during a game," the blog post read. "We made adjustments to the BRUTE within Arena, in line with that goal. Specifically for Arena we made the change to spawn rate in order to reduce late-game encounters. This is due to a higher number of players surviving to those circles compared to non-Arena modes."
