Fortnite: Battle Royale will be getting a “robust competition system” this fall

Epic Games has revealed that it’s planning to release the first version of a new “robust competition system” for Fortnite: Battle Royale some time this fall.

In a new blog post about the game’s state of development, Epic talked about everything from the game’s connection issues to shotguns and building effectiveness. But a key note was in a section about the game’s competitive future.

“We are aware of a strong desire from competitive players for more opportunities to compete directly against one another within the same match,” Epic said. “Development recently began for a robust competition system which will allow for all players to compete with one another and be recognized for their accomplishments. The first version of this feature is expected later this fall.”

That sounds a lot like some kind of in-game competitive feature, like a ranked ladder. This is something that players have been wanting for a while. Epic has shown their commitment to the competitive side of the gaming, with events like the Summer Skirmish series and Showdown limited time modes, but there has yet to be any sort of ranking feature.

Epic also said that it has learned a lot from the Summer Skirmish series, about “scoring schemes and formats, attempting to find the best balance between simplicity, entertainment, server performance and competitive integrity.” The developer hopes to continue working on the esports side of the game with new events after Summer Skirmish, including next year’s Fortnite World Cup.

On the spectating side of things, Epic said that it had begun using new live spectating functionality over the past few weeks of Summer Skirmish, and to expect more of it in the future.

“Improvements have been made to allow for Gameplay POV cameras to more closely mirror the action when following a specific player,” Epic said. “This will allow us to provide more high-quality coverage of the action along with map overheads, scoreboards, and drone cameras. We will be making extensive improvements to these features over the coming weeks and look forward to highlighting the performances of our competitors.”