Article Credit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/16/20916237/fortnite-chapter-2-new-map-season-11-black-hole-design-epic-games

Writing from the point of view of someone who has never played the game, but has only watched bits and pieces of their brothers scream at the screen in frustration I acknowledge the fact that I will probably butcher some of these terms and phrases about the game- so bare with me.

Tuesday morning, players returned to their game after a meteor struck the island, ending in a gaping black hole that apparently “sucked up the map,” and left what I assume was the majority of all pre-teen and teenage boys quaking in their basements staring at a blank screen. The “relaunch” featured a completely different island and doubled as the release of the next season, titled: Fortnite Chapter 2. The update basically features new challenges, an updated interface and slight changes to gameplay in general. In the words of many, “Fortnite is exciting again.”

This stunt is considered one of the “most groundbreaking” events from Epic Games thus far. With numbers dropping even after what seemed like a successful e-sports tournament and more, this move by Epic easily placed the game back on top where it will hopefully stay.

The article points out that Fortnite was losing favor with players and streamers before the launch of this new season. This was due to a lack of updates, especially on the map and perhaps just the interface in general. The gaming and live-streaming industries are booming. E-sports is huge, Twitch is huge, and I do not see this trend dying out anytime soon. While this is a good thing for companies like Epic Games, it also brings the heat. The pressure is on for game designers to release cutting edge updates and new games.