Should Epic Games add skill-based matchmaking to Fortnite? | The Fortnite Podcast Ep 62

Fortnite players have been clamoring for some form of competitive play to be introduced to the battle royale for some time, but the topic is still a fiercely contentious point of discord even among seasoned vets.

Hosts 2LoudTX and MonsterDFace go over the ins and outs behind the logistics of a competitive system that could fit into the game in Episode 62 of the Fortnite Podcast.

Introducing a ranked or skill-based matchmaking element to Fortnite is a tall task to follow through on since introducing the concept would, by default, split the community apart when queuing up for a game.

Love it or hate it, Fortnite is for all intents and purposes the best battle royale on the market. But a lot of the things that make it great come from not having a ranked playlist.

Too many communities across the competitive games arena feature toxic or negative player habits and tendencies because of components that come with ranked playlists.

• Read more: Major changes coming to Fortnite’s Streamer Mode that will further help prevent stream sniping

In games like Counter-Strike and League of Legends, the joy of playing similarly skilled players is tarnished if you have a terrible team because the player is more concerned with the negative impact it will have to their ranks.

Fortnite’s regular playlists are a blast, but sometimes the skill gap can be disproportionate between the 100 players in the lobby.

Moreover, when a player is doing exceptionally well in a ranked setting, they tend to develop a certain egotistical nature that can degrade the community even more.

Epic Games has already announced that they will be introducing a Leaderboard type mechanic to their Pop-Up Cups, which is a great intro feature for the Fortnite players who are itching to prove their skills.

Players that participate in Pop-Up Cups generally enjoy the format, but unfortunately it doesn’t last long enough to thoroughly enjoy.

The biggest drawback from Pop-Up Cups as they stand are their stringent hours that doesn’t give everyone a chance to participate.

A great fix to this would a be a 24-hour Pop-Up Cup that would give players all the time in the day to grind Fortnite. Within those 24-hours the player would accumulate some sort of points that would lend to a skill-based matchmaking system to be paired in games with players of a similar prowess.

At the end of those 24-hours, all ranks would reset. Then, at the end of the week, the Top 100 people from that week’s Pop-Up Cup get invited to a special weekend Pop-Up Cup for the very best.

Listen to 2LoudTX and MonsterDFace’s in-depth discussion in the podcast below and then tweet us @Dexerto to share your thoughts on the current state of Fortnite.