Fortnite test reveals HUGE advantage for controller players, and it’s not aim assist

There appears to be an inconsistency in Fortnite Battle Royale that gives players on controller and advantage over their mouse and keyboard using counterparts.

The Fortnite debate surrounding controller vs mouse and keyboard has been going on between the two sides almost as long as the game has existed. 

Those on M+KB have always argued that aim assist is a huge advantage given to controller players, whose rebuttal has always been that the precision and accuracy of a mouse is miles ahead of what can be done using a joystick. 

However, a recent development in the popular battle royale has strongly suggested that controller players do indeed have a massive advantage, and it has nothing to do with aim assist.

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A lengthy test conducted in-game by Reddit user ‘Elijahyeur’ revealed that firing a weapon when using a controller results in much less recoil and kick than on M+KB, even with aim assist turned off.  

While the claims made in the video have certainly led to many raised eyebrows, some have questioned the legitimacy of the test.

Fortnite news outlet FortniteINTEL, who are part of the Dexerto network, conducted their own test, in order to test the validity for the Reddit user’s results. 

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As it turned out, FortniteINTEL’s demonstration led to the same conclusion – that there is noticeably less recoil on controller. 

Players are welcome to try this test on their own as well. All you would need to do is load into Creative mode, build around eight to 10 walls in line with each other, edit windows in each wall, grab a gray Common Assault Rifle, and shoot through the windows. 

What does this actually mean in terms of gameplay?

While it’s tempting to jump to shocking conclusions after seeing these tests, as many in the community already have, it’s important to remember several things.

First of all, these tests aren’t completely conclusive, and could only be proven correct by doing a more complete and in-depth statistical analysis of in-game ballistic readings.

Second, that there is no proof that the difference in recoil actually has any kind of effect during matches, especially when considering that those using a mouse themselves also have ways of controlling recoil. 

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Finally, the actual cause of this difference is not yet clear, meaning that it could either be a bug, or have to do with firing near builds, or could even just be something that only exists in Creative mode. 

All that said, it’s probably worth waiting to see if Epic Games make many mention of it in the near future, before considering making a switch to controller.