In Fortnite: Battle Royale weapons are constantly being cycled out, while others seemingly stay in the game forever, despite being terrible. According to a professional player’s conspiracy theory, there could be solid reasons for this.
New weapons are regularly introduced in Fortnite, while old, problematic weapons are cycled out and are waiting in the “Vault” for better days. Often, Epic’s reasoning is sound, as some weapons become obsolete over time or just don’t fit in the current game dynamic.
Which weapons are the problem? Yet some weapons seem seemingly immune to the “Vault”. This mainly concerns the Tactical Shotgun and the Suppressed Pistol.
Both weapons are weak and unpopular. Those who find them usually throw them away as soon as they come across any other gun.
Nevertheless, both weapons have existed in the game for what feels like ages and are not removed. Especially the Tactical Shotgun, which has almost no reason to exist alongside the Combat Shotgun and the resurrected regular Pump Shotgun, is still in the game, leaving players scratching their heads in confusion.
This is said to be the real reason why the weapons are still in the game
This is the conspiracy theory: Professional gamer Beehive from Luminosity Gaming has his own theory as to why these two weapons, the Suppressed Pistol and the Tactical Shotgun, are still in the game and likely will remain for the foreseeable future.
Because both guns are part of the NERF Blaster collection for Fortnite. Alongside the still-popular SCAR, there are also the relatively lackluster Tactical Shotgun and Suppressed Pistol as colorful NERF Blaster replicas, with which Fortnite fans can also shoot foam darts in real life.
Beehive suspects that Epic Games is contractually obligated to keep the weapons from the NERF collection in the game for a certain period; otherwise, the NERF Blasters wouldn’t represent realistic weapons used in the game.
The Fortnite experience might then no longer be the same, and Hasbro, the company behind NERF, might sell fewer NERF versions of these two weapons.
Thus, Beehive believes that these two weapons will remain in the game for a long time, if not forever, regardless of how little utility they provide to players:
“I just realized why the Tac and the Suppressed Pistol are still not in the Vault. Fortnite has a collaboration with NERF to bring 3 weapons: SCAR, Tac, and the Suppressed Pistol. I bet it’s in the contract that they can’t be removed. This game is really a damn meme!”
How valid is the theory? There is no evidence for Beehive’s claims. However, in a deal between two large companies regarding the rights to use distinct products, there are certainly sophisticated contracts in place.
