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Fortnite Ranked is here. (Image via Epic Games)

Why Ranked won’t fix competitive Fortnite

Saptarshika B.By Updated:7 Mins Read Opinions

Epic Games introduced Ranked mode to Fortnite on May 17, 2023, during Chapter 4 Season 2. While there were a few leaks in the weeks prior, nobody had foreseen such a drastic change to competitive after the conclusion of the seasonal FNCS. The news generated a lot of excitement in the community because many had felt for the longest time that the absence of a proper ranked game mode was one of Fortnite’s major barriers to being recognized as a respected esport. 

The Arena playlists were permanently disabled, and then Ranked Play Season Zero arrived in the v24.40 update with lofty promises of rewarding progression and tough competition. The ranking system includes Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Elite, Champion, and Unreal. The first few days saw players enjoying immensely and discovering the mode’s facets eagerly. With Arena being a major disappointment for the better part of the last two chapters, Ranked was a breath of fresh air. 

Unfortunately, the cracks began to show quite soon. With Epic Games attempting to overhaul the competitive mode, presumably in an effort to get more casuals involved and reduce the skill gap, it didn’t take long for some of the familiar problems to crop up, and then some. Many Fortnite pros have been vocal about wanting competitive modes and tournaments to stay balanced and have a separate loot pool if necessary. Epic has chosen to detour and is instead reducing the differences between regular Battle Royale and the Ranked mode.

Competitive practice

Fortnite Ranked
Fortnite Ranked was introduced recently. (Image via Epic Games)

The Ranked mode, previously Arena, has a dual purpose. On one hand, it should encourage casual players to try out competitive and grind the game. On the other, it should allow Fortnite pros to practice for tournaments. Unfortunately, the Ranked mode achieves neither.

Once the novelty of being assigned a rank fades, players realize that the Ranked mode is hardly any different than pubs, especially in the lower tiers. The matches do get significantly difficult as one ascends, but the higher tiers come with their own set of problems.

One of Arena’s biggest pitfalls was that it could not provide matches of the same caliber as one would encounter during tournaments, which is what led to the popularity of organized scrims in the Fortnite community. Epic has seemingly not addressed that issue in Ranked and instead made it slightly worse, if anything.

Based on the tournaments we have seen thus far, one can conclude that they might function a little differently than Ranked matches and even have a different weapon selection. That is problematic for those who rely on scrims for practice. At least, Arena custom matches could replicate tournament end games well. Having certain items enabled in Ranked but disabled in tournaments makes little sense.

Climb to Unreal

English
Climb the tiers in Fortnite Ranked. (Image via Epic Games)

Nobody wants to get bodied in a match of Fortnite, but one could argue that a certain level of difficulty is necessary to make the rank ascension feel valuable. Within days of Ranked Play arriving in the game, Unreal was already getting crowded. Of course, it was no surprise that Fortnite pros — talented players who have been grinding the game for years — would get Unreal quickly, but even so, many found it anticlimactic. And since players cannot get demoted from Unreal, it is quite likely that a significant chunk of players will step away from the grind every season once they reach the top rank.

Epic said in their blog post:

“Upon reaching Unreal, you’ll be given a number signifying your standing among Unreal players globally. Keep performing well in Ranked matches to raise your number and be among the best players in the world!”

While this is an excellent way for up-and-comers to get their names out into the world, veterans might feel they have nothing more to prove. The rewards are also painfully scarce this season, but that is something Epic will surely improve down the road. Rumor has it that Season One of Ranked will also have skins as rewards.

Siphon

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Siphon, a mainstay of competitive Fortnite, has been disabled. While it may be unfair to blame Ranked Play for this development, the vaulting of Siphon is one of the most jarring changes Epic has ever made.

Arena and Battle Royale could always be distinguished based on this one feature. Siphon rewarded players for engaging in combat and discouraged prolonged periods of inactivity. It was also one of the primary contributors to making 1 v 2s feasible in the game. With Siphon vaulted in Ranked and tournaments, pub players have one less hurdle to cross when making the switch to competitive. The community as a whole is quite unhappy, and rightfully so.

Matchmaking

Long queue times have been a persistent problem with competitive Fortnite. With the player base split across different regions and game modes, smaller regions like NA West and Oceania have trouble facilitating matches at all times of the day, especially for players in the higher tiers. The community had raised this issue multiple times while Arena was still in the game, and it seems that Ranked will also be plagued by the same.

Epic Games had the good sense to vault one of the Battle Royale game modes for Ranked — Trios. However, players in the higher ranks, especially Unreal, are unable to find matches for extended periods of time. There is an argument to be had that the situation will get better as more people ascend, but that will always leave a vacuum somewhere.

Unlike the other consolidated regions, NA is split into East, West, and Central for Ranked. So, it is no surprise that players are experiencing delayed matchmaking. Perhaps more people would be playing the Ranked mode if it was slightly different than pubs, gameplay-wise. And on the topic of NA, all its tournaments are now played on Central servers, so having the East and West servers active for Ranked may be counterintuitive.

On the other hand, the Zero Build Ranked mode is limited to just Duos, which helps provide swifter matchmaking but has reduced the potential player base significantly. While some may prefer playing alone, others may already have a squad with whom they love to grind the game. As a result, many players are resorting to unranked for Zero Build practice, and the truth is that their experience isn’t much different in the grand scheme of things.

Weapon balancing

Casuals and pros have been arguing on Twitter forever. At this point, it is just part of the Fortnite experience. The former wants a variety of fun items in the game, even if they are overpowered, while the latter would like a reliable meta that springs no surprises and puts everyone on equal footing. The issue would have been long resolved had Epic Games decided to split the loot pool.

However, it seems they have a different plan — ensuring that all items are compatible with both Ranked and the regular Battle Royale so the loot pool can be the exact same. Weapon balancing changes will now apply to all playlists. On one hand, players now have a chance to triumph in battles even if the odds are stacked against them, but on the other, Epic might introduce nerfed versions of items from hereon, which could have otherwise been wildly entertaining. The tournament loot pool not being the same as Ranked is the cherry on top.

Looking ahead…

All said and done, this is Fortnite Ranked Play Season Zero. There is a good chance that Epic Games will be making significant changes in the upcoming season to remedy some of these issues. Introducing Ranked towards the end of the season was their way of having a test phase before launching into a new competitive season. There is potential here, and Epic Games could make Ranked significantly better than Arena with just a few key changes.

At the moment, it is just not a significant upgrade over what we had. Competitive has not always been the favorite child, so maybe the community is right to be wary. But fresh season, fresh start maybe?

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Saptarshika B. is a video game and entertainment journalist at GamesHorizon. She holds a postgraduate degree in English Literature from Jadavpur University. When not watching the latest TV shows, she can be found sprinting across the Fortnite island.