Is Fortnite Dying? Four Possible Reasons Behind Its Decline

What happened to Fortnite?

Is Fortnite really dying? Fortnite is hands down one of the most successful and iconic names in gaming history. Its journey certainly hasn’t been easy, but it is generally regarded as one of the most relevant video games today. Developed by Epic Games, it launched in late 2017 and had surpassed 78 million players by August 2018—which is a huge feat for any video game. However, every game has a golden period and Fortnite seems to have outlived moving past its heyday. Currently, it is nowhere near its peak popularity—and this is normal. Things become super-popular, everyone hops on the bandwagon, and then everyone moves to the next big thing. This is a basic trend that any form of media will follow. A lot of people jump on the bandwagon of a popular form of media, and they are the first ones to leave as well.

In this article, we’ll go through the reasons behind Fortnite’s seeming decline that might indicate it is dying, right from some bad decisions on Epic’s part to the game developing a negative image in the gaming community.

If you like this article, be sure to check out Is Hyper Scape better than Fortnite?

Is there a stigma surrounding Fortnite?

It seems so. There is a very thin line between people who play Fortnite and people who don’t. It started with the “Minecraft good Fortnite bad” memes and various people making fun of kids who love Fortnite dances. The thing is that Minecraft too, received a lot of hate a few years ago and was considered to be for kids. Suddenly, people are playing it again and calling it “cooler”. This is a cycle that Fortnite might follow as well. A large part of the gaming community tends to be vocal about what it dislikes and why, and one of the most popular things a lot of people have disliked in recent years has been the world of Fortnite. A younger player base gives birth to memes about kids begging for V-bucks (the Fortnite currency) or doing dances in public places. Fortnite slowly developed the image of a childish game after it got popular in schools. If it reaches a point where it inevitably dies, the hate it receives will definitely be a contributing factor.

Is there is a thing such as “too popular”?

Certainly. We live in a digital world. When Fortnite reached its peak around mid-2018, content creation for the game exploded on YouTube and Twitch. The problem arises when it gets click-baited and exaggerated. It spreads on social media so much that people who don’t play the game feel like it’s being shoved in their faces. Naturally, they form a negative association with the game. This has definitely happened with Fortnite. Right from advertisements for Twitch Prime skins to popular talk shows hosting Fortnite players, a lot of people who either dislike the game or do not play it, felt the full brunt of the game’s overexposure. This exhaustion can turn into a form of dislike pretty quickly.

Have there been bad decisions on Epic Games’ part?

It’s a well-known fact that Epic Games hasn’t always executed the things with the community in mind. Things such as

• removing siphon (a mechanic that rewarded health/shield on killing an enemy),
• promoting the fad of “OG” skins,
• or even failing to regulate the loot pool.

Most of these negative changes were in Chapter 1 of course, the worst ones being items that were downright broken.

• A mech-robot was added with 1000 HP and rockets that damaged through structures.
• Planes were broken when they first released.
• Proximity grenade launchers dealt 70 damage without even hitting the player (I remember “sniping” someone with it from across a mountain, it was crazy).
• Junk rifts destroyed 100% of all structures in a small area.
• Combat shotguns dealt insane amounts of damage from a distance.

Read more about Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2

While these changes might even sound fun for several casual players (including me, I loved all of these), they hurt people who didn’t play Team Rumble all the time. In competitive games or even casual Solos where you’re trying to get a win, being steamrolled by a super-strong weapon just feels like the game doesn’t respect your time anymore.

Along with imperfect changes, the frequency of updates has also gone down. While, in a sense, this is good because Epic Games has made Chapter 2 really good, it also makes it so that people don’t regularly have new content to explore. Even content creators don’t have new things to make content about.

Quitting Fortnite but don’t want to waste your account?

Fortnite may or may not be dying, but there are plenty of potential buyers online for your account if you’re not playing. People always want accounts with rare skins and even v-bucks, and since so many rare skins are now unavailable for various reasons, people lean towards buying accounts. Even without rare skins, your account can sell simply based on the number of skins you have of higher rarities (Epic/Legendary), your V-buck balance, and even your Battle Pass Tier.

But it can be tiresome and complicated to calculate the value of your account on your own, which is why PlayerAuctions has a free online calculator that provides an estimated selling price based on the items you own in-game. Visit now to calculate prices and then you can also sell your account on PlayerAuctions.

Endnote: Why is Fortnite dying?

Humans—and gamers specifically—don’t have too long of an attention span. Moreover, game developers can’t cater to everyone’s tastes. Games get popular and they lose popularity, but Fortnite is going pretty… well so far. The only difference is that it has gone from that game that exploded and had 78 million players to a steady but a still very successful game. In fact, the player base is a lot more skilled and invested in the game than before.

The people who joined just because the game was popular have left, leaving behind a dedicated fan base that’s staying strong with the game they love. Is Fortnite a dying game? No. “X game is dying” is a term that will always be thrown around by its haters. Fortnite, however, is far from dead. In fact, it still remains to be one of the most popular games out there. The thing abouat Fortnite is that it’s unique enough that it isn’t threatened by other games. The building mechanics being in a Battle Royale is one of its biggest strengths, along with it starting the trend of Battle Passes that pay you back. Add to that its cartoonish graphics, regular updates, and how fun it is just to view a Fortnite match—it’s here to stay for a long time!