While it may not have ever won a Game Award for it, Fortnite's community support is still among some of the best in the industry. One of the few examples of the live-service model done right, Fortnite is constantly inundating its player-base with new content, ranging from skins to weapons to new points of interest on the map. Fortnite also pays close attention to fan reactions, being more than willing to buff or nerf certain items and weapons if they're deemed imbalanced by the community.
But Fortnite's community support isn't quite as good as it could be. Unlike games like Final Fantasy 14 and No Man's Sky, Fortnite is a little more reluctant to talk directly with its player-base. The relationship between Epic Games and Fortnite's player-base can be a bit of a fractious one at times, but by taking a page out of Overwatch 2's book, it might be able to strengthen that integral relationship.
Fortnite Should Let The Community Create A Point of Interest
Back in December 2022, Overwatch 2 developers hosted a Twitch stream where players could pitch their ideas for a new map, and see it come to life before their very eyes. After Overwatch 2's controversial launch, a livestream where the developers directly talk with the audience and listen to their feedback was the best thing Blizzard could have done. Named "Talantis," this community-made, non-canon map imagines an underground Talon lair filled with traps and launch pads. And true to the developer's word, Talantis is heading to Overwatch 2 in its Season 4 update.
In the gaming industry, there's often quite a bit of distance between the developer and the player, and that can lead to a significant disconnect between both parties. On one hand, this can lead to the developer not understanding the needs or wants of the game's community, while on the other, this can often lead to many gamers forgetting that developers are just regular people trying to do the best at their job. Moments of community bonding like Overwatch 2's December livestream are a great way to bridge that dangerous gap.
It would be great to see Fortnite host a similar community event, wherein players get to come together to create their own section of the map, or even just one point of interest. User-created content is a major part of Fortnite's ecosystem, with the most hardcore and dedicated fans spending hours of their free time creating maps for Fortnite's Creator mode. And with the introduction of Fortnite Creative 2.0, these user-creations are only going to get more impressive. But for the most part, these user-created maps and modes never get the attention they deserve, often restricted to the Creator section.
Instead of hiding user-created content away, Fortnite should strive to highlight that content in a more overt way, and it doesn't really get more overt than changing Fortnite's main battle royale map. Back in Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 3, fans could submit their own ideas for what the new Tilted Tower point of interest should look like. For a few weeks, fans could vote on which design they preferred by heading to Tilted Towers in-game, and selecting their favorite layout. This is exactly the type of community support that Fortnite should be doing on a regular basis. Letting players create and vote on even just one user-created POI every Season could do wonders for Fortnite's community support efforts, proving to the fans that Epic Games does pay close attention to constructive fan feedback and ideas.
Fortnite is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.