It's been two weeks since Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf, 16, of Pottsgrove, Penn., won the $3 million grand prize at the Fortnite World Cup Finals in New York, but the developer of the worldwide phenomenon isn't slowing down.
Not only did Epic Games announce the Fortnite Championship Series, with the inaugural month-long run handing out $10 million in prize money, but they've updated the game itself with the beginning of its 10th season.
But with the new season has come some controversy -- even more than usual, which is saying something in Fortnite. Epic Games has a big problem in the form of a big vehicle: an artillery-firing, enemy-stomping mech known as B.R.U.T.E.
Every season of Fortnite brings something new to the 100-player battle royale and the map its played on, and for what they're dubbing Season X, Epic has introduced these goliath instruments of destruction. B.R.U.T.E. has thrown the fanbase for a loop, with the core mechanics of the game -- building and aiming with handheld weapons -- being thrown out the window with the introduction of all-powerful futuristic mechs dropped into the game.
At first glance, B.R.U.T.E., while large and gaudy, didn't seem too out of place in the world of Fortnite. Epic Games has never been shy about adding the weird and whimsical to its marquee game, even going as far as introducing the Infinity Gauntlet as an item in a promotional tie-in with Marvel Studios.
Are people working at Epic proud of clips like this?
— Jack "CouRage" Dunlop (@CouRageJD) August 10, 2019
Is this what they want?
Does anyone else feel embarrassed that this is even in the game?
I'm truly at a loss for words at this point. #RemoveTheMech pic.twitter.com/UBKTVyCnev
In the game, when a player found the Infinity Gauntlet, they would instantly transform into the villain of the recent Avengers movies, Thanos, and catapult into the skies to find their next target on the map. That, however, was used in a special game mode separate from normal competition.
Another powerful item placed into the game, the Infinity Blade, became a hot topic when it was released without warning hours before Epic's own Winter Royale tournament. The blade was a complete game-changer, as it could rip through buildings and structures with little to no trouble.
For casual players, it was at most a mere annoyance or something to be used for fun to disrupt friends; to the professional player base, though, it was as if Epic was making a joke of their jobs -- looking at the hours they put into one of the key fundamentals of the game, building forts, and neutralizing those hours with a single item created to generate buzz.
After heavy backlash, the Infinity Blade was removed from the game. But Ghost Gaming's Justin "Kayuun" Ha believes B.R.U.T.E. is even worse than the sword Epic Games removed and eventually apologized for introducing into the game.
"The newly added mech in Season X is infinitely more powerful than the sword ever was, and players were already very angry and upset with the sword being in the game," Kayuun told ESPN. "The sword had very clear openings, although it was very powerful. If you were outside of the slash range, the sword user couldn't hurt you, so you could then easily eliminate them even though they had 200 effective HP total. Now the mech, on the other hand, doesn't have a clear and definitive opening like the sword had."
Fortnite World Cup solos and duos qualifier Benjy "Benjyfishy" David, who plays for NRG Esports, shares that opinion and has done so publicly behind the #removethemech hashtag.
"I think it's obvious to I think most people that the mech is way too overpowered," Benjyfishy said. "It destroys the main part of the game, as you can't even build to defend yourself against it. There shouldn't be something in a game like Fortnite where a player who doesn't take the game seriously and just plays for fun can instantly destroy and one-shot a pro player. It just isn't right."
Following a day of backlash and calls for the mechs to be removed from Fortnite by pro players, where it became so prominent that it began trending on Twitter, Epic Games heeded the calls by making an announcement.
No, unlike the Infinity Blade, Epic would not be removing the mechs from the game -- but they would be changing how often they show up in a game.
Instead of having a 100% chance of having a few mechs dropped onto the map at the start of a match, there is now only around a 20% chance of seeing a B.R.U.T.E. as you're dropping into the battlefield.
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
— benjyfishy (@benjyfishy) August 9, 2019
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
REMOVE THE MECH FROM TOURNAMENTS
So far, Epic hasn't changed anything about the mech itself: The metal monstrosity can still jump, dash, fire rockets, stomp and parade around the map with little counterplay. The only difference is now Fortnite becomes, even more, a game of chance.
One of Fortnite's biggest stars, Turner "Tfue" Tenney, isn't happy with the introduction of mechs into the game that he has become known worldwide for playing. B.R.U.T.E., as seen in a myriad of social media posts, can allow an amateur player to eliminate a pro in a matter of seconds.
"It spawns randomly," Tfue told ESPN. "There's too many of them. It takes no aim to actually shoot it. It's impossible to counter at times."
Epic Games has never been afraid to be different. Up until now, the developer's zany ideas and departures from the norm have worked for them. With the Infinity Blade and other items, they've balked in the face of backlash and relented, listening to their community and pros.
This time, though, Epic is betting on the unconventional, hoping in a way to have its cake and eat it too by lessening the impact of the new robotic toy on the professional scene but still keeping it in play depending on chance.
However, that decision leaves pro players' matches to chance in a $10 million event series, too. The next Fortnite Championship Series game they drop into, they'll have no choice but to hope that there's no B.R.U.T.E. to be found.