Ninja plays devil’s advocate on controversial Fortnite v8.20 patch: “Epic has their reasons”
Top Fortnite streamer Tyler ‘Ninja‘ Blevins has weighed in on the controversy over the latest v8.20 update, which has disappointed, or even angered, other Fortnite personalities and pro players.
The issue with the update is not anything new that Epic have added in, but rather a reversal of gameplay changes that were added back in Season 7.
The plus 50 shield/health that was granted for each elimination has been removed, as well as the cap on materials and reversed the 40% increase in harvest rates.
Epic’s explanation for all of this was that it had created an “unhealthy level of aggressive play” – but this certainly wasn’t a satisfactory explanation for many.
Dakotaz, Daequan, CouRage and more were all in disbelief at the changes, sharing their dismay on social media.
But, one streamer noticeable by their absence from all the complaining, was Ninja. After starting his stream to try out the new update, he finally voiced his opinion, stating he wished to “play devil’s advocate.”
“You know who isn’t going to be tweeting [complaining] today? The tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of casual players that don’t care about social media, and don’t have a following. The ones who might have hated the last updates, but we’ll never know about it, because they don’t post online, they don’t post on Reddit.”
He also says that he trusts Epic Games “have their reasons” for making the changes, regardless of how he, or any other streamer or pro player, feels about it.
The battle royale team at Epic Games are always paying attention to feedback, and if the community sentiment is largely in favor or returning to the pre-v8.20 version, it’s likely they will steer in that direction.
Previous examples of this community-informed decision making include the X-4 Stormwing and the Infinity Blade, both of which were removed after streamers, pros and casuals alike all voiced their discontent on various social channels.