The Daily Maybe #3: Did Drake Break Fortnite?

~I only love Loot Lake and my squad I’m SORRY ~

Gang gang. (via Epic Games)

Alright, I’m back, sorry. Missed yesterday’s post. Spanish final in two days, you know how it is.

Anyway, hello and welcome back to The Daily Maybe! Today, I’m back to talking about topics that require a certain degree of pop culture knowledge. This one shouldn’t be require too much Googling, however; Epic Games’ popular battle royale game has been everywhere.

Like, EVERYWHERE.

It sparked up a long-gone pointless debate… (via Rolling Stone)

…it somehow became a regular in Forbes (what?)… (via Forbes)

…and of course, this guy catapulted Fortnite into outlets like GQ. (via GQ)

Again. Everywhere.

Now, since I’ve just proven the game is well-known, I’m not going to bother with an explanation of what Fortnite is all about. If you’re unsure, just look up from the rock you’ve been sleeping under.

Today’s post is focused on a little theory I have about everyone’s favourite Battle Royale (suck it, PUBG fanboys). Namely, the titular concern of Drake accidentally making the game a whole lot harder to pick up and play. There are no salt, tears, or scientific research here: I’m literally just writing out a thought I, and likely a few others, have had.

Let’s get into it.

Esketit. (via GIPHY)

So, this “theory” of mine is actually pretty simple, but a little preamble always helps. Fortnite was already immensely popular before the self-proclaimed 6 God hopped onto it. With simple mechanics, enjoyable team play, and quirky personality, the battle royale phenomenon was a hit almost from the start. And that’s not even mentioning the countless Twitch streamers and YouTubers who boosted the game’s public profile.

Naturally, such a popular game would have the odd bit of network issues, right? With millions of gamers all trying to play at the same time, Epic’s servers were surely entitled to some downtime? No way they’d have a Call of Duty-sized audience and no lag, right?

Well… No, actually.

Now, this point — hell, this entire post — is entirely anecdotal. I have my experiences and those of my friends vouching for me, that’s it. Regardless, the fact remains: lag and delayed matchmaking simply were not issues for the first few months of Fortnite’s existence.

Somewhere along the way, “disconnect” snuck its way into this formula… (via GIPHY)

Fast forward to March 2018. The Fortnite scene was large, diverse, and had memes of its own to boot; truly, a community had formed. The game had millions of players on its servers every day, yet, aside from scheduled maintenance downtime, rarely had an issue with connectivity.

Then, everything changed when the Drake-Ninja duo attacked.

Popular Twitch streamer Ninja managed to get megastar musicians Drake and Travis Scott to join his squad for a few rounds. It was an enjoyable stream for sure. The community watched with awe, the Twitterverse launched into a frenzy, and PUBG players somehow grew even saltier (I made that last one up but it’s probably true lmao).

You’d think all the immediate attention and news reporting on the event after the fact would be great for the game, right? Fortnite became a household name, and the new bane of girlfriends everywhere (shoutout Kanika bhabhi). Droves of new gamers came thru to the party.

But they brought LAG with them.

~I know when that gold chest bling~ (via Gfycat)

Honest to God, as soon as the DrakeNite craze (that’s what I’m calling it now) started, the servers went to shit. Laggy games, eons-long matchmaking delays, time-consuming glitches while in squad lobbies — you name it, Fortnite was suffering from it.

To Epic Games’ credit, they’ve worked tirelessly to fix the issues. But see, these issues weren’t even their fault; none of this had ever happened to my friends and I until after that damned DrakeNite stream. Only after the OVO boss’ presence did these issues arise. Fanboys hopped on the boat, and sunk us all as a result.

…

Okay I’m done being dramatic. The point is, the game ran like a dream until Drake unwittingly brought his fanbase along to it. Now, though we still have more scheduled downtime than before, as well as more lag spikes than we ever asked for, Fortnite runs better. The issues aren’t nearly as pressing anymore. Hell, Drake’s hopped on with Ninja again since then with no issue; I heard he even unlocked a new skin:

~Wocket/In my/Pocket/Wocket, Wocket/In My/Pocket~ (via GIPHY)

All things considered, there is likely no factual backing to this theory whatsoever. I literally came up with this as I was playing the game last night. I just wanted to write it out because I thought it’d be fun… Plus, in 2018, Drake and Fortnite are easy clickbait. Internet tactics fam.

Got ’em. (via GIPHY)

And that’s that. Hope you enjoyed today’s Daily Maybe!

*UPDATE:* As of posting, the Fortnite servers are down for at least another estimated two hours.

Toldja.

Till next we meet,

Sarim