Did aim assist really destroy competitive Fortnite?

The call to nerf aim assist on controllers has recently been a recurring theme among the Fortnite competitive community. The aim assist function is here to help controller players shoot moving targets to make up for the lack of precise control that a mouse provides. The Fortnite aim assist issue is not in regards to a controller on a Playstation or Xbox. Rather, it’s players plugging their controllers to a 240 Hz monitor to enjoy the rewards of an overpowered aim assist.

Ever since the introduction of aim assist, Fortnite has seen an increase in controller players. Some Pro PC players like Shane “EpikWhale” Cotton have jumped ship to the controller. The norm of professional play for Fortnite on PC experiences rapid changes. Because of this issue, mouse and keyboard versus controller in Fortnite became an open war between PC players.

Credit: Epic Games

Fortnite Aim Assist Nerfs

Aim assist ruined Fortnite for M&K players looks like we need to find a new game unlucky

— Tfue (@TTfue) May 17, 2020

Now, many PC users have since called for aim assist nerfs. Epic Games, in their Fortnite patch 12.50, stated that aim assist already received nerfs. According to them, the new patch includes a change that makes “240 Hz aim assist act like 60 Hz”.

However, players have not noticed a significant change to aim assist. The Solo FNCS Invitational increased calls for yet another aim assist nerf. Turner “Tfue” Tenney took to Twitter to complain about controller aim assist after FNCS Week 2. He posted a picture showing that controller players topped the NA East leaderboards. Tfue also tweeted that he may switch to Call of Duty: Warzone because of this issue.

Image credits to Fortnite

In NA West, Shane “EpikWhale” Cotton placed first in Week 2 of FNCS. The top six were all controller players, while in NA East, Josef “Stretch” was the only keyboard-mouse player in the top five. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins also released a video calling for top controller players with influence to reach out to Epic to nerf aim assist as fast as possible. In the past, Ninja stated that controller players should stick to a mouse and keyboard on PC. Besides Ninja and Tfue, other PC players like Kyle “Bhuga” Giersdorf, Stretch, and Williams “Zayt” Aubin have called for aim assist nerf.

Reactions to Aim Assist

i really miss the times were you got credit for placing on controller because you actually needed a brain and not linear…. the respect i got during skirmishes/winter royale/worldcup from pro players was the best feeling, but nowadays you just get flamed cuz linear is broken

— issa (@issa) May 18, 2020

Some known controller players even acknowledge the power of aim assist. Aydan “Aydan” Conrad, in response to Ninja’s question, gave his opinion about the state of controller aim assist. Aydan agrees that controllers on PC with linear was too strong. He also went ahead to suggest other things that Epic could buff for controller players instead. Former Luminosity player Alex “Destroy” Benabe also thinks that Epic should nerf aim assist.

PC versus Controller in Fortnite

As things stand, Fortnite’s competitive community has turned into a keyboard versus controller player fight. PC players continue to call out Epic Games for what they see as an unfair advantage. There have been many comments on how aim assist has ruined the competitiveness of Fortnite. What started as a way to make competitive Fortnite more inclusive has turned into a symbol of division.

There is no denying the fact that aim assist needs nerfing. However, controller players still face too many disadvantages without any form of assistance. Epic Games needs to add certain mechanics to improve controller play better instead of a strong aim assist function. Fortnite Aim assist has not destroyed the competitive scene yet but it might if these issues are not fixed quickly.

Written by Rashidat Jimoh