Fortnite U-turns on controversial game update after Ninja complaint

Turbo build feature gives advantage to highly skilled players

Fortnite developers Epic Games has been forced to reverse changes to the hugely popular video game after players widely criticised the update.

In an effort to make the game more even, Epic had introduced a tiny delay to the game’s building mechanic that allows players to create structures out of thin air.

The so-called “turbo building” feature allows players to create structures by holding down a button. Previously, there was a delay of 0.005 seconds between each new structure forming, however Epic decided to increase this to 0.15 seconds.

This may seem like a tiny change but it caused widespread uproar among the Fortnite community, which counts around 250 million players around the world.

Epic claimed that it gave an advantage to more experienced players, who were using the turbo build feature to skilfully block themselves off from other players and avoid taking any damage.

A number of high-profile players, including Ninja, criticised the move and within 24 hours Epic decided to revert to the original 0.005 second delay.

In a blog post explaining the decision, Epic said that a delay of 0.15 seconds would still be enforced if a structure is completely destroyed and a player wants to place a new structure piece on the same spot.

“With this, we aim to reduce the impact that ping has on ‘taking a wall’ as well as mitigate situations where spamming walls in the same location prevents all incoming damage to the defender,” the Fortnite developers wrote.

The latest U-turn comes after Epic was forced to reduce the power and availability of the B.R.U.T.E suits that arrived at the start of Season X.

The two-person vehicle was also intended to level the playing field, however it proved very unpopular with skilled players who denounced them as too powerful.