Do you remember how Fortnite became popular? At one point, Epic Games sensed the hype around the Battle Royale genre and quickly occupied that niche. Back then, PUBG was poorly optimized, and the rapidly developed Fortnite Battle Royale mode quickly drew in an audience.

Why this history lesson? Well, recently, Epic Games announced two major new modes for Fortnite. First, there’s LEGO Fortnite Brick Love — essentially a role-playing game mode. RP servers in GTA Online became popular some time ago, and now Fortnite will host sessions for 32 players, where they can choose different professions and "work" virtually, earning money to buy and furnish their own homes.

Epic Games also announced the Ballistic mode — essentially an Arena FPS where two teams of five players compete based on the principles of Counter-Strike or Valorant.

At launch, there will be only one map, and the mode’s potential is unclear. While Brick Love could gain popularity by appealing to the casual audience who enjoys both RP and Fortnite, hardcore fans of CS2 or Rainbow Six Siege are unlikely to switch to Fortnite. Considering how Epic Games built esports around Battle Royale, there won’t be anything like that with Ballistic, meaning the incentive for players to switch to this mode will be low.

It seems the only explanation is that Epic Games wants to turn Fortnite into something like Roblox, and the changes to the battle pass, which can be leveled up by playing any mode, fit that theory. In that case, Fortnite just needs as wide a variety of options as possible. Let’s see what happens next.

Main image: fortnite.com

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