Fortnite OG returns on Friday, December 6, and simply after hitting its peak concurrent participant depend of all time, Name of Responsibility battle royale hit Warzone has to make drastic adjustments in key areas or danger being killed by the true titan of the style.
Warzone launched in March 2020 to rapid fanfare and, to its credit score, has persistently been a high two BR title alongside Fortnite ever since, maybe with a little bit of pushback from Apex Legends.
The sport has definitely had its peaks and valleys – which dwell service title hasn’t? – however proper now, not lengthy after the Black Ops 6 Season 1 launch, it feels as if the tide is shifting in a approach Warzone hasn’t actually needed to expertise but.
Those that have been round for some time will do not forget that when Apex Legends first launched in February 2019, Fortnite was going via its personal problems and gamers have been getting annoyed. This led to Apex registering 25 million gamers inside days, together with 10 million inside eight hours after its stealth launch.
Fortnite, sensing that tide shifting, made quite a few quality-of-life adjustments and added options such because the Reboot Van, a Ping system, and some weeks later, Scorching Drop zones, all of which existed in Apex at launch.
Now, Warzone is dealing with comparable challenges: gamers are annoyed with mounting problems, and the timing couldn’t be worse, as whereas Season 1 Reloaded arrives on December 5, only a day later Fortnite is relaunching its unique map like its Day 1 once more.
For that purpose, Warzone has to get forward of the curve. Listed here are the problems it wants to handle, or danger letting Fortnite turn out to be a unanimous number one once more.
Servers, servers, and servers once more
For years, devoted COD gamers have complained concerning the 20hz servers that imply desync points can run rampant, whereas hit registration can usually be a coin flip on whether or not it really works as meant.
Nevertheless, it’s reached a fever pitch in Warzone now, and has turn out to be a key subject of dialogue and frustration among the many playerbase as the problem is worse than ever, with many enormous streamers and content material creators calling out the server problems.
This was highlighted in a viral tweet from HusKerrs, who posted two clips and was mindblown at how most of his photographs weren’t hitting.
HusKerrs responded to 1 remark too, including that his XM4 has a 1080 m/s bullet velocity, that means that any dialog round hitscan vs main the photographs is basically void.
There has additionally been a frequent drawback the place gamers are actively taking pictures an opponent, see blood popping out of them, but get no hitmarkers and do no injury.
This was addressed in a put up from the COD Updates staff, which was met with about as a lot respect as you’ll discover in a 2009 MW2 foyer.
They stated: “We’ve recognized a difficulty that could lead to misguided visible blood results when injury was not truly dealt whereas taking pictures at enemies in all modes.”
Instantly, they have been accused of gaslighting and easily making an attempt to cowl up an issue that they know they’ve by fixing the proof that it was taking place, with enormous names reminiscent of Cloakzy, Metaphor, and Kalei all questioning the validity of the assertion.
The put up felt like a slap within the face to each participant who has caught by the sport via every main drawback, the bugs, the hackers, and each different impediment that has gone unfixed. With lots of these gamers already weighing up their choices, it could be a fast turnaround for them looking for a brand new sport, and the nostalgic temptation of Fortnite OG being an excessive amount of.
Hackers Paradise
No, that’s not the title of a brand new Warzone POI, nevertheless it wouldn’t be utterly unreasonable both.
Warzone has at all times had a extreme dishonest drawback and it’s turn out to be as unhealthy as ever in current weeks because the Black Ops 6 integration. Regardless of a ban wave seeing off 19,000 cheaters, it looks like a dent has barely been made in any respect.
And, regardless of what number of extra gamers Fortnite has had than Warzone, the hacking drawback was by no means even wherever near what it’s in Warzone on its finest days.
Activision’s failure to appropriately tackle the issue has already pushed away 1000’s of gamers and can solely proceed to take action extra because it continues. Ricochet is solely not a strong sufficient anti-cheat software program and whereas Activision proceed to make billions of {dollars} from COD gamers, it’s these precise gamers that should undergo.
However why ought to they? This can be a widespread drawback that impacts everyone, whether or not its the streamers incomes thousands and thousands and counting on it as their supply of earnings, or the dad and mom who get residence within the night and simply need a few hours to play after tucking their youngsters into mattress. It’s a top-down drawback that merely must be addressed, but hasn’t.
Fortnite would by no means.
Stale gameplay meta
Should you’re transferring, you’re shedding.
As soon as once more, similar to many occasions through the years, snipers have gotten an issue in Warzone. You merely cannot play any map with out seeing the glint of no less than one Kar98 staring down at you from a rooftop, making the gameplay one-dimensional and, frankly, boring.
Earlier in 2024, we argued for the removing of snipers from Warzone because the meta had turn out to be so stale, regardless of truly being followers of sniping in COD. The problem is that utilizing a sniper rifle ought to include severe drawbacks. Kills needs to be spectacular, not anticipated.
When these weapons have nice one-hit kill potential, intention help, and are arduous to counter, you’re taking part in into the palms of the bottom widespread denominator, and gameplay turns into irritating and boring. To not point out, if you attempt to push them aggressively, Overkill means they’ll merely swap to their SMG and be prepared for the struggle.
Forcing a ‘meta’ appears intrinsic in any first-person shooter in 2024, and that in itself isn’t essentially an issue. The issue is that snipers should have extra drawbacks or you find yourself with gamers being punished for merely transferring.
So, now, you’ve a sport the place snipers run rampant on rooftops, you drop lots of of bullets into an enemy with no sniff of a hitmarker, and proper whenever you get to the ultimate circle, a hacker simply seems to be at you and also you’re useless.
Alternatively, you’ve the unique Fortnite again in all its glory, simply the way you keep in mind it from whenever you bought your first Victory Royale. What sounds extra enjoyable to you?
