Boring. Inconsistent. Stale.
These were just a few of the criticisms against Fortnite until the so-called OG chapter launched on Nov. 3. The OG chapter took off in popularity by bringing back the game’s original map, weapons, and game play mechanics. For many long-time players, it was a nostalgia factor that brought them back to enjoy the game how it used to be in 2018.
Then the Chapter 5 Fortnite update dropped on Dec. 3 with a completely revamped map and three new game modes: Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival. The Chapter launched with a live concert event featuring rapper Eminem and a preview of the game modes that would be gradually released during the upcoming game seasons.
The Lego Fortnite game was probably the biggest addition to the game, providing a whole new way to play the game in a less competitive environment. The Fortnite Festival and Rocket Racing games, despite being smaller additions, have also attracted casual players and younger audiences who don’t want to play in a highly competitive battle royale format.
Lego Fortnite is a survival-based game where players can craft objects and make bases. It’s pretty similar to Minecraft, but in Lego form with some slight differences. There are also boss battles in every biome and many hostile entities such as wolves. When it launched, Lego Fortnite smashed player record, reaching 2.45 million concurrent players.
Lego Fortnite is a kid-friendly game mode that allows the game to be accessible to a younger demographic than the game’s typical demographic. The same can be said for Rocket Racing, which is a crossover game with Rocket League, and Fortnite Festival, which is an online multiplayer rock band simulator similar to Rock Band. All of the games utilize Fortnite’s in-game voice chat, making all of the new game modes even more enjoyable when played with friends online.
When it comes to the actual Fortnite battle royal mode, Chapter 5 introduces a series of bosses that drop medallions that all have power-up abilities like automatically regenerating shields. Longtime Fortnite players were excited to finally get to battle a robotic Peter Griffin boss after game developers had teased adding him to the game for years. The battle pass also includes some other in-demand popular character skins including Snake from Metal Gear Solid and Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Epic Games seems to regained its popularity by adding new game modes into Fortnite that are more accessible for casual players. Its success likely motivated Disney’s decision to invest $1.5 billion into the company to develop games and online experiences for all of its media properties in the near future.
This seems to suggest that Fortnite players will have even more opportunities to have casual gaming experiences like the new game modes in Chapter 5 down the road.
