At the moment, it seems like every time you open up Twitter another pro has quit. Ninja and SypherPK recently discussed what’s driving people away from Fortnite on stream.
While they may focus more on content than competitive Fortnite, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Ali “SypherPK” Hassan are two people that have been around Esports and gaming for a long time. Therefore, it was interesting to hear what they had to say about the seemingly endless stream of pros deciding to call it quits.
One of the latest and perhaps more surprising players to announce their retirement from Fortnite was Harrison “Psalm” Chang. He hasn’t been finding a whole lot of success since coming 2nd in the World Cup Solo Finals, and revealed he has his eyes set on upcoming Riot Games shooter, Valorant.
Talking about Psalm’s plans to move to Valorant, Sypher said “He’s obviously really talented, but he’s always been the guy to use his brain, not necessarily the most cracked out mechanics… but at the end of the day Valorant is gonna require at insane amount of aim skill”.
Sypher wasn’t insinuating that Psalm specifically didn’t have the mechanic skill required, rather explaining that it won’t be as easy to simply hop on Valorant and become a pro as a lot of Fortnite players are thinking. In Psalm’s case, he has experience competing in a number of games, including reaching Global Elite rank in CS:GO, which bodes well for his future in Valorant.
Carrying on the conversation, Ninja said “If you’re performing well in Fortnite right now, and you’re enjoying it, there’s no reason to switch whatsoever”. He then clarified that if you aren’t having fun, there’s nothing wrong with quitting, adding “Even if you are placing well, if you’re just fed up with the competitiveness of Fortnite”.
As to the reasoning behind pros being tired of Fortnite, they referenced the slew of technical issues that still plague every tournament without fail. From glitches that kill you for no reason, to players lagging out of games or not even loading in in the first place, there always seems to be something. They also mentioned the other problems associated with these online open events, such as the teaming and stream sniping scandals that have been making headlines as of late.
The pair agreed that Valorant’s competitive scene will likely be policed so much better, conceding that this is a lot easier in a 5 v 5 shooter than a Battle Royale. The annoying thing for Fortnite pros is that whilst the genre does present certain unavoidable issues, there are so many little changes that could make a huge difference that go ignored.