Back in 2017, one name was on everyone’s minds: Fortnite. Cut to six years later and the game remains quite popular even today. Fortnite is one of the biggest games ever released. Its battle royale mode saw it grow on an unprecedented level, attracting gamers as well as non-gamers to the title. Yet, does it bring the same punch it had back in 2017? Is Fortnite dying in 2023?

Is Fortnite on a decline?

In 2011, Epic Games announced Fortnite, showing it to the world for the first time. It took six more years to finish development and it was finally released in 2017. Although initially designed as a co-op survival title, its battle royale mode became the main selling point. This was largely because of the experience Fortnite offered at no cost to players. But recently the question of whether the title is on a decline is gaining traction on social media.

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The question itself raises a complicated scenario. Looking purely at how the game performs in terms of numbers, there seems to be no reason for concern. Twitch still lists Fortnite as one of its top-viewed and streamed titles.

Big names in the streaming industry continue to play the game on-stream, with creators such as Ninja and SypherPK being two of many. Even in terms of its player base, the game boasts strong numbers. But the decline we are talking about is of a different kind.

To begin with, after the game took off initially, it had a plethora of streamers continually being part of the game. Even MrBeast joined the fray, offering rewards as part of the challenges he set for streamers. The game was far from the overcomplicated plot that it has today. It was a much simpler time for the title. With its core gameplay mechanics, people were just coming to grips with the whole building mechanic, which seemed strange to a few.

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Then came the COVID-19 lockdown years. With people confined to their homes, Fortnite became a popular hobby. People began picking up the title with the time they saved. It contributed to massive numbers for the game. Not just with players, more people began watching streams of the game.

However, after the lockdown was lifted, things looked dismal. People did not have the same amount of time as before. Their lives outside gaming took up most of their time.

It combined with another problem the game faced, which was its skill gap. Given the game is six years old at this point, it is no surprise there are players who practiced for hundreds of hours. Every single aspect of their game is refined, right from the building and editing to the shooting. There are no gaps for error. For someone who tries to play the game to relax, it becomes discouraging and frustrating to die at the hands of someone who plays as if it is a semi-pro tournament.

For players who just see it as a hobby, it becomes a much more difficult gameplay experience. Just being able to jump in and figure out how the game works becomes a hard task. Fortnite frequently makes changes to the game. For someone who comes back to the title after a few weeks or months, it takes quite a while to understand and learn the new meta.

It is important to keep changing things from a developer’s perspective. It keeps the gameplay from going stale. But when understanding the way the game plays itself takes a few weeks to learn, some players find it a waste of time.

At its core, while Fortnite’s gameplay mechanics stayed the same, the game added a bunch of new features to it. Initially, players remained on board with the ideas that added another dimension to the gameplay. Tiered guns is an example of such an addition.

However, in recent times, Fortnite has added a plethora of different items. While the idea of including rare items such as the Spider-Man shooters has some fans excited, the question of whether it is too much comes up. Again, with a dedicated player base, it may seem fine but Epic caters to a bigger audience. It makes fans yearn for simpler times with the game where the range of equipment was kept simple.

All of this does point to the idea that while the game still enjoys a large group of players dedicated to playing it, Fortnite lost out on a lot of players as the game developed. It feels over-the-top on some occasions.

But Epic’s elaborate crossovers that bring different franchises and characters also attract temporary fan bases. Something like its current Futurama collaboration may bring in fans of the show. But for how long? Fans love the collaboration events, but they do not contain special instances.

For example, take the Travis Scott concert. In addition to the cosmetic items it brought, it was a one-of-a-kind event. The concert took place inside a video game. It was something no one expected. The same goes for Marshmello’s event. Instead, in the current state, fans are left asking what Optimus Prime is doing in a forest in a battle royale!

What was once a unique title has become a series of promotion collaborations amidst a confusing storyline. It might be hard to digest, but Fortnite could potentially turn into a repetitive game that only brings jolts of life with its regular events, such as the island flipping instance.

The days of old Fortnite, where fan-favorite streamers such as CourageJD, TimTheTatman, and Ninja come together to play, seem long gone. While Fortnite continues to grow its numbers through these collaborations, it seems to decline from what the game was, a unique blend of building and combat that kept players coming back for more.

What are your thoughts on Fortnite? Do you think the game is dying? Let us know in the comments below!

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