Matchmaking Improvements And Bots Are Coming To Fortnite

Some major changes are coming to Fortnite this week, Epic Games has announced.

Breaking the news in a blog post, the developer has revealed that this week’s v10.40 patch is going to make two key adjustments to the battle royale intended to alleviate the currently intimidating new player experience. The first of these is relatively straightforward and, assuming all goes well, gamers will likely not notice a perceivable difference in their day-to-day routine.

“In the v10.40 update, we’re introducing improved matchmaking logic to Battle Royale core modes,” reads the statement, adding that the decision has resulted from a desire to “create fairer matches.” What does this mean, exactly? To put it bluntly, the new and improved algorithm will more reliably match players of equal skill level against each other, hopefully eliminating – or at the very least reducing – instances of newbies getting stomped by veteran players within the first few seconds of a match.

The second intended change is where things get interesting. When v10.40 goes live, so too, will a horde of bots. No, this isn’t the developer acknowledging a hack infiltrating Battle Island but rather, Epic’s own private army built for a single purpose – to teach new players the ropes. More specifically, these AI-controlled opponents will supposedly “behave similarly to normal players” and “provide a better path for players to grow in skill.”

Those concerned about being dumped in a match against only bots rather than other players need not worry – Epic’s little helpers will eventually stop appearing once you’re experienced enough. Regardless of skill level, bots are prevented from appearing in competitive playlists, so if you were hoping to luck out against a bunch of (literally) brainless enemies, think again.

That about wraps up everything we know so far about Fortnite‘s upcoming changes, though we expect more information in regards to skill brackets and the like later in the week.