This week, some top players, like World Cup Winner Bugha, as well as TimTheTatMan and DrLupo, have been streaming Counter-Strike instead of their usual Fortnite. Content creator CouRage switched to Minecraft. Fortnite mainstay and electronic DJ Marshmello called for Epic Games to vault the mech in an announcement of his next in-game collaboration. Some players on the competitive Reddit have talked about leaving the game. This isn’t a new phenomenon; some segment of players will always talk about Fortnite having been“ruined” by whatever changes Epic makes. But Season 10’s controversies, and Epic’s response, have been the brightest spotlight yet on the downsides of Fortnite’s popularity.

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The game is trying to be everything to everyone, but there are too many people with too many different expectations for that to ever be possible. Epic is clearly still committed to Fortnite esports through this season’s Champion Series, but each of Season 10’s updates has seemed like a shift away from competitive and back to basics, not just in bringing back past landmarks, but in putting the focus back on wacky items and watchable streams. It’s not like it’s bad for games to be fun, and fun for as many people as possible to play or watch, but the change in focus feels unexpected and severe to many. Epic’s data and recent competitive matches suggest the presence of the Brutes is minimal in the hands of competitive players, but they’re clearly having an effect, whether that’s an actual influence on gameplay or as a sign that Epic has changed its mind on what it wants Fortnite to be.

The changes have pit different factions of the player base against each other and against Epic, and the vitriol feels especially sharp coming after the unified excitement of the World Cup. Fortnite thrives on emotion, both that of players and that of the world surrounding the game. The perception of Fortnite is just as much a part of the game as what’s actually going on in matches. Many fans’ perception of Season 10 is of a game that’s floundering. Fortnite is a game of constant change, but this season, the pace of those changes is catching up with it.

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The new Junk Rift feels metaphoric: It’s a visual representation of Epic’s tendency to throw everything at Fortnite and see where things land. I doubt it’s game-ending; I don’t think Fortnite can be destroyed by items, nor by an angry competitive Reddit, or even streamers spending a bit of their time in other games. But players don’t seem as happy as they once were to let the dust settle and then explore the fallout. The game has changed a lot since its early days, perhaps too much so for players to be appeased by nostalgia. There are more weeks of Season 10 to come, so Fortnite will keep changing. Hopefully the season can find an equilibrium.