Epic Games and People Can Fly are consistently releasing new updates for Fortnite in an effort to balance the game ahead of its full launch later this year. Fortnite's next update, expected to drop later this week, will continue the developer's attempts to better balance the game, this time by removing a weapon entirely.

As announced by Epic Games, the SMG will be temporarily removed from Fortnite and placed in the "Vault." This means that, for the time being, the SMG will be completely inaccessible to players, but there are plans to reintroduce it at some point in the future.

An Epic Games representative explained the decision on Reddit:

"As we add more weapons, consumables, and other item types, we want to make sure that the balance of itemization isn't ruined. Expect more items to be released (and likewise vaulted!) in the future. And of course, items will often come back out of the Vault when the timing is right."

Based on this statement, it seems as though the SMG was removed due to the introduction of new weapons in the game that threw off the balance. Recently, Fortnite added an infinite ammo crossbow as well as a minigun, both of which may have contributed to the decision to temporarily remove the SMG from the game.

However, anyone upset that the SMG is gone from Fortnite should note that not all versions of the SMG will be removed. In fact, those playing the mega popular Battle Royale mode should still be able to find SMG variants in the game world, including the Tactical SMG and the Suppressed SMG. As of now, only the basic SMG is being removed.

In the future, fans can expect the SMG to return, and for Epic to temporarily remove other weapons as well. It's all in the name of making the game as balanced as possible before it has its proper launch later this year.

Fortnite is available now in early access on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Epic Games, Reddit