Fortnite Battle Royale continues to get regular updates which add brand new game modes with varying rules as well as new weapons which shake up the meta and new cosmetics for players to deck their characters out in. But as the game expands and grows in these ways, the question on the lips of many Fortnite Battle Royale players is whether or not the game could expand by adding a second map.
Speaking in a new interview, Eric Williamson, the lead designer at Fortnite developer Epic Games teased that "a second map isn’t off the table." Though, a second map is "not something we’re focused on right now," revealed Williamson. The developer also pointed to the Fortnite map update which was released earlier in the year, calling it "pretty big" and noting that it "added a bunch of new points of interest and changed up the game in a pretty big way." Lucky Landing, another point of interest, was also added fairly recently.
On the one hand, many Fortnite players can respect Epic Games' decision not to add a second map to the game just yet. There are other issues going on with the game, including cheaters, hacked accounts, and other content updates and these may take priority over developing an all-new map.
Introducing a second map also comes with the significant risk of alienating the playerbase. Fellow battle royale game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a good example of this. When it introduced desert map Miramar, some players were unsatisfied with the map's design and decided to delete files from the game's file folder on their computers in order to avoid it, forcing developer PUBG Corp. To change the game's rules to discourage them. The developer also had to work on updates to address these concerns, including improving loot drops and the map's available cover.
But on the other hand, introducing a new map could potentially spur on the growth of Fortnite Battle Royale even more. The game is already growing exponentially, in part thanks to high profile celebrity Twitch streams and the game's prominence on platforms such as YouTube and Reddit. However, a new map would give players an added incentive to begin playing the game or to jump back in it if they've grown bored with its default map. So while a second setting isn't being created right now, it seems that there are both good and bad reasons for Epic Games to consider if it does decide to develop a new Fortnite map.
Fortnite is available in early access for PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Red Bull