For a few hours now, “#RipFortnite” has been a trending hashtag on Twitter in the USA. The reason seems to be a viral tweet that clearly shows that Valorant is signaling the end of Fortnite . Many are using the opportunity to kick Fortnite one more time when it supposedly is already down.
Since when has this hashtag been trending? In the USA, the hashtag #RipFortnite began trending around 6 a.m. on Easter Sunday in our time. Since then, it has ranked 4th, 3rd, and 2nd among hashtags (via trends24.in).
Currently, at lunchtime in Germany, it is in 3rd place with 37,200 tweets.
A trend means that a particularly large number of tweets on a subject appear. Other trends in the USA revolve around the resurrection of Jesus at Easter and a popular comedy show.
Twitch clip goes viral, shows Valorant as the pallbearer for Fortnite
This was the trigger for the trend: The trigger for #RipFortnite appears to be a tweet from the Twitter user “Imsdalo,” which went viral. The tweet appeared last night and has received around 174,000 views, 700 retweets, and 2,500 likes.
The clip to the tweet shows:
- tweets that express terrible frustrations about Fortnite and tell players they are quitting Fortnite
- how Fortnite is symbolically being buried
- pallbearers referred to as “Valorant,” which is the new tactical shooter from Riot Games
- a comparison of Twitch numbers that clearly show Valorant ahead of Fortnite – right now, players need to watch Valorant to receive a Twitch drop and thus gain beta access
This is how the trend was formed: The catchy hashtag “#RipFortnite” has led many Twitter users to voice their opinions that Fortnite is allegedly dead, even without knowing the origin of the tweet. It is then said:
- the Fortnite servers are currently bad, the lag is terrible, and the ping is awful
- there are too many OP weapons in Fortnite
- Epic is no longer communicating with the players
- Fortnite should bring back the old map
- the new games, Valorant and Warzone, signify the end for Fortnite
Some also say they never liked Fortnite anyway and are glad the hype is finally over.
Fortnite has shown some strength again in the last 30 days
Is Fortnite really dead? No, of course not. Fortnite still has many players, and anyone logging in will practically find a match immediately.
Fortnite has rather experienced an upward trend in the last 30 days, just like many games during the Corona lockdown:
- average viewer numbers for Fortnite on Twitch have grown by 25% in the last 30 days
- however, Fortnite has dropped from Rank 3 to Rank 6 among average viewers on Twitch despite the increase; games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (thanks to the new Warzone) and Valorant have increased significantly
Fortnite has lost some relevance compared to 2018 – also on Twitch. The huge hype around Fortnite has long been over, yet the game remains successful and lively. The crossover event with Deadpool was recently a highlight.
Valorant is hard to see as a competitor to Fortnite; the games are extremely different, even though some Fortnite pros are now switching to Valorant, like the second-place World Championship player Psalm.
If there is a new game that competes with Fortnite, it is CoD: Warzone. However, the criticism of Fortnite generally seems to stem from the current state of the game.
There are criticisms of Fortnite that keep coming up and have some merit: Fortnite has some issues with lags, ping, and balance. Bugs occur repeatedly, and items need to be disabled.
Moreover, communication has deteriorated, and the pace at which new content is released has slowed significantly over the last six months. Some critically note this.
