Morale is at an all-time low for Fortnite fans. Casual and competitive players alike are heavily criticizing the developers for recent changes implemented in the game. This all began with the addition of the B.R.U.T.E vehicle into the game, which players also refer to as the mech. It is polarizing history to this point, and the vast majority of players simply despise the B.R.U.T.Es. After seeing exactly how the B.R.U.T.E factors into non-competitive game types, we saw instances of how the vehicle plays out in professional scrimmages.

Popular streamers and professional players Turner “Tfue” Tenney, Tom “72hrs” Mulligan and Dennis “Cloakzy” Lepore are guilty of using the B.R.U.T.E. in such matches. In one professional scrimmage, Tfue displayed the dominance that the B.R.U.T.E. is capable of. The clip truly speaks for itself in this regard. In the hands of the right player, the mech is the single most destructive component of Fortnite. Needless to say, the #removethemech movement is still in full force.

Fortnite patch v10.10 introduced another universally despised item into the game. The name of the item is the Junk Rift, and much like the B.R.U.T.E, it is capable of destroying everything in its path. The Junk Rift is essentially a throwable item that spawns an object above where a player throws it. The object that spawns proceeds to destroy both players and builds in its path. A player can hold up to four in one stack and can instantly eliminate players.

More Trouble

The Junk Rift further complicates competitive Fortnite seeing as building is one of the core components that makes Fortnite unique. Now an item is available to players that can wipe out an opposing player’s build in one fell swoop. The Junk Rift is similar to the B.R.U.T.E. in that there’s not much a player can do against it. The spawned object from the Junk Rift drops straight down, and there does not seem to be sufficient time to escape it. With the B.R.U.T.E. and Junk Rift, competitive Fortnite is currently in a state of disarray.

The clip above by Team Liquid’s 72hrs displays a good example of what the Junk Rift produces in competitive matches. Professional players simply seem bored or at least unmotivated to play Fortnite at this stage. After the Junk Rift released alongside patch v10.10, professional scrims are lackluster. In fact, regularly scheduled competitive Trio scrims have ended much earlier than normal over the past few nights. In one of these post patch professional scrims, 72hrs showed what the Junk Rift can do as endgame approaches. On top of this, the Fortnite Twitch Rivals tournament fell victim to the same malaise as professional scrims. Players were quitting early and just generally seem uninterested with Fortnite at this stage of the game’s life.

Popular streamer, CourageJD of 100 Thieves ended his Twitch Rivals experience early after falling victim to a B.R.U.T.E. The clip above says it all and it feels as though many players share Courage’s overall sentiment. Epic Games has not shown any concern about these additions to the game. The Fortnite developer has released one statement in regards to the B.R.U.T.E, and none addressing the concerns over the Junk Rift.

Looking Forward

Fortnite’s viewership on Twitch still remains at the top. Perhaps players are dealing with the changes for the sake of their fans and bank accounts. Nevertheless, there has been no shortage of complaints. Players are littering the Competitive Fortnite subreddit with comments diminishing Epic Games as developers. To this point, the developers have not indicated the B.R.U.T.Es removal from the game despite the social media movement. We have yet to see how the Junk Rift plays into the actual competition, but we will get a good indication when the Fortnite Champion Series continues this weekend.

Stay tuned to ESTNN for our continued coverage of the Fortnite Championship.

Photo VIA: Fortnite