Why Epic Added the BRUTE to Fortnite

Epic Games added the BRUTE to Season 10 in both normal and competitive modes. The community is up in arms, but there are several reasons why adding this item was a savvy move for Epic.

Fortnite players routinely claim that Epic has no idea what they're doing. This point is highlighted by the addition of the clearly overpowered BRUTE - which everyone seems to hate.

What if Epic did know what they were doing, though? What if all of this was some sort of ploy to retain casual players, keep Fortnite's name in the news, and generate positive feedback in the long-run?

I believe that adding the BRUTE to Fortnite was a calculated move on Epic's part. Here's why.

Catering to Casuals

Its been 4 days and Mechs are still in Arena. Unbelievable. from r/FortniteCompetitive

Epic Games is notorious for catering to the casual player base. They don't seem to care much for the competitive side of things, and never really have.

This is evident in their updates. Epic routinely makes major updates to Fortnite before tournaments. They added the Infinity Blade and planes on the eve of a tournament and even started entirely new seasons before hosting a cash-prize tourney.

To their credit, Epic showed a bit of restraint when they postponed Season 10 until after the Fortnite World Cup.

Still, Epic seems to prioritize casual players over the rest of the community.

There's a reason Fortnite seems to cater to casuals more than some other games, though. If you miss a season or two of Fortnite, you missed a ton of content. Updates, meta shifts, and building strategies have passed you by.

Bringing in an item like the BRUTE can attract those old players who don't need to know how to waterfall and cone-push. All they have to do is smash and shoot.

Unfortunately, there will always be more casual players than there are competitive players, and Epic will continue to pander to this player base.

All press is good press

Epic is intentionally “ruining” their game, and it’s working. from r/FortniteCompetitive

Fortnite somehow remains in the headlines and in Twitter's "trending" page no matter what they do. The more outrage Epic generates, the more people are talking about their game.

The more people are talking about their game, the longer Fortnite remains relevant.

This post from the r/FortniteCompetitive subreddit hits the nail on the head. Epic knew that BRUTEs were broken when they added them. They knew that the community would revolt.

To them, though, that only translates to more discussion about their video game.

Listening to the player base

This might be one of the most "tinfoil hat" theories on why epic added BRUTEs to Fortnite, but I think it's also true.

Epic saw what happened with the Infinity Blade:

• The addition was followed by outrage.
• They nerfed the item
• They removed the item
• Players praised Epic for listening to the player base

The same exact scenario will likely play out with the mechs.

I'm sure Epic will nerf the health, damage, or usability of the BRUTEs in the next update. When that's not enough, they'll remove them entirely.

The removal of the mechs will be met with praise from the community. "Epic listens!" we'll all say. More players will flood into the game to play a mech-free Season 10, and Fortnite will continue to thrive.

Epic knows exactly what they're doing, here. Unfortunately, there's not much more we can do other than becoming aware of these tactics.

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