Fortnite’s Blitz Royale Might Seem Sweaty, But It’s Actually A Great Mode For Casual Play

It’s beginning to seem a little like Fortnite has been inundated with various battle royale modes. We already had the traditional BR that everyone is familiar with, as well as OG and Reload, each featuring no-build options. Then, just a few weeks prior, Epic introduced the new mobile-focused Blitz Royale, a compact battle royale with 32 players, for good measure. Can all these distinct modes coexist peacefully?

I believe they can, provided each finds its own niche within the broader Fortnite community. Regular Battle Royale appeals to general players, OG caters to those who favor a stable experience that seldom undergoes significant changes—or simply those nostalgia-stricken by the Fortnite of the past—Reload is for the more competitive players, while Blitz Royale, despite seeming quite fast and competitive at first glance, serves as a more relaxed alternative to all the other modes.

If your only experience with Blitz Royale was at launch, you might not recognize this. When the mode first debuted, it was intense and packed with competitive players, which was expected for a brand-new mode everyone was eager to try. However, it quickly settled down as the player numbers leveled out.

Since Blitz Royale was designed to take advantage of Fortnite’s return to iPhones in the US, matches are very brief, often lasting five minutes or less for the winning player or team, necessitating quick matchmaking. In Fortnite, rapid matchmaking typically entails a greater presence of bots instead of human participants. This has certainly been the case with Blitz, which has usually filled my games with what appears to be eight human players along with numerous bots—and that ratio tends to persist whether I play solo, in duos, or in four-player squads. I’ve even experienced several squad rounds where my team seemed to face no human opponents at all—this has occurred roughly every four or five rounds of Blitz Royale squads that I’ve engaged in.

I’m not attempting to criticize the mode for this, though. Most casual gamers don’t mind if they’re battling bots or human players, and they are definitely not engaging with Fortnite to test their gaming prowess against the top competitors available. For the majority of players, the mix of skill-based matchmaking and a healthy supply of bots creates a formula for an enjoyable, casual experience that’s more about TikTok dances than building techniques. Similarly, someone playing Blitz Royale on their phone while commuting on the bus is likely just seeking a way to pass the time. For these individuals, the presence of numerous bots is not a disadvantage at all.

Realistically, too, every aspect of Blitz Royale that makes it suitable for mobile play—the short matches, the absence of building, the entertaining elements like weekly themed loot pools and medallions—also enhances the enjoyment for a casual audience eager to jump online and engage in shooting. You hardly need to loot, considering Blitz starts you with half shields and readily provides an exotic or mythic weapon shortly into the round. With its swiftly approaching storm, compact map, and plethora of powerful weapons that simply materialize in your inventory, Blitz Royale is essentially Fortnite at its most straightforward.

Having Blitz as effectively the casual mode simplifies it for the other battle royale styles to appeal to distinct audiences, as they wouldn’t need to cater to every type of player. Reload, where players automatically respawn as long as at least one team member is still alive, has been an excellent illustration of counterprogramming since its new Squid Game-themed map debuted last week. Although I’ve encountered quite lengthy matchmaking times for Zero Build Reload matches, often exceeding two minutes to start a round, the games themselves have been exhilarating. Nearly every round of Reload I’ve participated in recently has been a real showdown.

The reality is, for a game of Fortnite’s magnitude, matchmaking speed is crucial. The longer it takes to initiate a match, conventional wisdom suggests, the more chance that a player accustomed to modern demands for instant satisfaction may change their mind and decide not to play at all. However, with Fortnite evolving into more of a platform than a standalone game, they can mix it up by presenting their own alternatives. Don’t want to wait two minutes for a Reload match? Then opt for Blitz Royale or traditional Battle Royale instead. Given Reload’s longer matchmaking times, it’s conceivable that you could achieve victory in Blitz Royale before you even land from the bus in Reload.

With each of these battle royale modes attracting players from various segments, they can more effectively target specific audiences. If a significant number of players concerned with matchmaking speed are engaging with Blitz, for instance, then there would be less need to accelerate Reload’s matchmaking by introducing more bots. It’s less about dividing the audience and more about tailoring the experiences to match what each player desires.

At present, Blitz Royale is expected to remain available only until mid-August. Assuming the player numbers remain healthy, however, it’s likely to return sooner than later, providing more casual gamers a deceptively relaxed mode designed primarily for them.

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