Who plays Fortnite on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One and uses mouse and keyboard will soon face opponents who are on PC.
Epic is serious about the announcement from early August: In the future, player matchmaking in Fortnite will be based on the input device. This was announced via a developer blog.
What is changing? Epic wants to make player matchmaking in Fortnite fairer. Soon players with the same input devices will face each other.
- Players with controllers will play against each other
- Players with mouse and keyboard will also compete against each other
The system works across groups: If a player in a group of console players uses a mouse and keyboard, the whole group will be treated as if they were playing with a mouse and keyboard. They will face PC players or other console players who are also using mouse and keyboard.
This only works in one direction: Those playing on PC with a controller will continue to contend against other PC players, regardless of which input devices they use.
When is it coming? It is not yet clear when this change will come to Fortnite. Epic mentions “one of the upcoming updates.”
Free controller customization coming to Fortnite
Free controller mapping: Additionally, they want to give players the option to completely customize the button layout on the controller. This is supposed to happen in 2018.
Fairness is to be ensured
Why is Epic implementing this new matchmaking? Those who use mouse and keyboard on PS4 or Xbox One have an advantage over players using the controller. They want to balance this out to ensure fairness in eSports.
Some believe it is easier to dominate against “normal players” on consoles by taking advantage of that input advantage.
What do players say? Players have concerns about whether Epic’s plan will work in this form. After all, there are emulators on consoles that make “mouse and keyboard” pretend to be controllers. We will see if Epic can resolve the issue in practice.
The background to this topic has been explained here:
