The newest season of online multiplayer shooter ‘Fortnite Battle Royale’ has recently launched. This is a short season lasting for a span of around a month from Nov. 3rd to Dec. 2nd, featuring a quick throwback to the original Fortnite chapter one, with the chapter 1 map being re-used and older weapon being unvaulted and being put back into the loot pool. This has been hugely successful in pulling older ‘OG’ players back to Fortnite, focusing media attention and bringing Fortnite a boost in popularity.
What does the season bring? This short season is a bit different. The first week started off as the chapter 1 season 5 map, and every week after the update the map became older, until this week it is in the season 9 and X (10) map. Additionally the original weapons are back, including: the scar, minigun, tactical and pump shot guns, jetpack, hunting rifle. The new chapter 4 vehicles have all gone, letting the original ‘OG’ vehicles a chance to shine – the driftboard, golf cart, quad crasher and X4 Stormwing. It has also kept many modern elements of Fortnite, most notably the zero build game mode has stayed, the new ranked system (used to be a mode called arenas) and the sprint and mantle mechanics.
What do the players think? Edward Wheeler, a Fortnite player says that “For me, this season takes me back 5 years to the so affectionately named good old times of gaming; the golden era of entertainment. By giving me the chance to relive old memories with new friends, it will be hard for epic to top such a nostalgia driven season, especially considering it’s short time.”
What has it’s impacts been? Fortnite’s player base has skyrocketed recently, with the likes of Ninja and Lazarbeam returning to make reviews on this season, bringing back nostalgia in almost every Fortnite player. Player have flocked to experience this season, whether as a returning player or a newer player wanting to see what ‘OG’ Fortnite was like. This is extremely obvious through stats on twitchtracker.com, showing that from October to November, when the season launched, there had been an increase from around 50,000 viewers to 170,000 viewers watching Fortnite streams on twitch alone.
I certainly enjoyed playing this season with my friends; will you be giving this season a try?
