Since its inception, Fortnite has seen consistent changes and fixes to its gameplay from developer Epic Games. With each season comes new content, including a recent Batman-themed update, for players to sink their teeth into. Yet, Fortnite still hasn't seen any changes alterations to its core mechanics, which is about to change according to an update from the Fortnite Team.
"Since Battle Royale launched," starts an update on the Fortnite website, "the matchmaking strategy for our core modes has remained mostly unchanged." However, it adds that "the range of player skill has grown considerably. In Arena, we use Hype-based matchmaking to ensure players are matched evenly across platforms."
As such, Epic Games is adding a feature to Fortnite, still one of the top downloaded games on the market, seen in many other online multiplayer games. In update v10.40, players "will be more likely to match with players of similar skill, and as you get better, so should your opponents."
Epic Games "will slowly roll this out to all regions across Battle Royale core modes as we test and monitor how it performs. We’re excited to get this out for everyone to play with and will continue to update the system. We’ll update you when it’s fully live across all regions to get your feedback as you try it out." This is a matchmaking system some might get behind, which is unlike some other less appealing matchmaking systems.
Furthermore, Epic is adding bots to Fortnite. Bots "will behave similarly to normal players and will help provide a better path for players to grow in skill." As players become more skilled, they will "face fewer Bots," which won't be seen in Competitive playlists. Epic clarifies that this is an addition that will continually be worked on and modified in the future.
Based on the update provided by the Fortnite Team, it could be taken one of two ways. Pessimistically, one could say that update might limit newcomers' ability to improve their skill level if they're only faced by bots unless there are bots of different skill levels. However, this could also be seen as a good thing for Fortnite, which was recently toppled by Gears 5 in popularity on Xbox One. It might bring new players into the fold and streamline the learning curve for them. In any case, players will know for sure once the update v10.40 hits the game.
Fortnite is currently available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices.
Source: Fortnite Official Website (via Twitter)