Fortnite has had yet another update, and this time it looks to be putting pro players off the game so much that they're turning to streaming something else entirely which might surprise some fans. That's right; Fortnite pro players are streaming Uno in the wake of changes that are apparently making practice for the upcoming World Cup impossible.
There were already gripes from Fortnite pro players about the state of affairs leading up to the World Cup. After Epic Games announced its large prize pool for the event without addressing the reality of issues with how players access servers for practice and have to organize their own scrims without organizational support, the pro scene started to grumble about whether or not their esport was being taken seriously.
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Forbes has now reported that the recent changes in Epic Games' famous Battle Royale title to its standard mode have made the ecosystem even more unforgiving for Fortnite pro players who want to make a real run at the World Cup title and the $100 million that's been injected into the scene. The changes to standard mode have now removed the ability to acquire life and materials on kill, which is how the game is intended to work in practice in competitive. Epic Games' reason for removing those features from the regular mode was apparently because it encouraged "too aggressive" play. However, in doing this, the company has now made it impossible for pro players to actually practice for the World Cup without queueing up for custom matches. As such, these pros have now turned to streaming themselves playing Uno.
The fact that Fortnite pro players are so disengaged from Epic Games' title that they'd rather be streaming a completely unrelated card game is pretty damning. Players as prominent as Ninja and WipzTV have been playing Uno instead as per the clip above, and their streams pivoting from Fortnite can't be a positive sign for the growth of the game which invests a lot into the kind of publicity that streamers and creatives can generate within the community.
Whether or not the changes are going to be reverted at this stage is uncertain, but there has yet to be any comment from Epic Games about whether or not they're going to stick to them or if they're going to take extra measures to support the Fortnite pro players who want to make it all the way to the World Cup (and who need the ability to practice to do so).
More: Fortnite Has No Way For Pros To Practice Properly And It's Wild
Source: Forbes