Fortnite has kicked off its latest season, and it’s severely going to change a lot about what we know for the video game franchise, including the idea of permanence and order in what has normally been a chaotic experience.
Among the changes includes a series of missions and decisions that will impact your gaming experience permanently — a change from what we’ve previously seen before. Gamers will decide between two different character variants and the decision can not be reversed.
And this means the game is taking a step toward creating a wider, more customizable world that gives everyone their own chance to build something unique.
Fortnite releases seasons every 50 to 90 days, giving gamers new missions and challenges to finish before the end any new season. That is all true in the new season launched Thursday, Feb. 20, which is the game’s first since October.
But the new season allows gamers to choose between two sets of missions and character variants — “Ghost” or “Shadow.” They will have to choose one style variant for their characters and they won’t have an opportunity to change their mind. If you choose Ghost, you’re Ghost for good. If you choose Shadow, you won’t have a chance to change your mind. Those who choose Ghost can’t choose Shadow. And those with Shadow will only have access to Shadow variants and missions.
You also choose a variant for each new skin you unlock. Do you go with Ghost — which is mostly white — or Shadow, which is mostly dark colors?
The Ghost faction variants are mostly white with some more colors based on different characters. But the Shadow faction deals with darker tones.
And this decision is final. If you unlock one faction’s skin, you can’t go back and unlock the other.
This is a massive change for Fortnite, which has always allowed gamers to unlock characters and hasn’t hidden anything from gamers. You put in the work and the rewards are plentiful. You see another skin, and you know there’s a way to unlock it.
But the new system means only certain gamers will have access to specific players. No one will have everything. It’s not like Fortnite has a way for you to replay under a different faction. You have one choice, one opportunity, to make your decision.
The decision isn’t life or death. It’s just a character choice. But it’s interesting that Fortnite has begun taking us down this path where you’re locked out from selecting one character or another. You are stuck with that one variant.
By doing this, Fortnite automatically makes each player more unique than the other. It slowly polarizes the players. But this isn’t the only way the new season creates a unique experience. One of the characters, Maya, may be “the most customizable ski yet.”
“This is the closest thing Epic Games has come to opening up customization options for skins. While Fortnite offers hundreds of skins, one person’s Kylo Ren would look exactly like another’s Kylo Ren,” according to The Washington Post. “This time, it’s going to be rare to find two players with the same version of Maya. For the first week, we only have the option to play for a ‘hair upgrade.’ She eventually gets tattoo, face paint and even scarf upgrades.”
Fortnite is slowly opening its doors for more unique experiences. There could soon be a day where gamers can create their own custom character, like you can do in other video games like the NBA 2K or Madden NFL series. Fortnite is becoming less a myopic, one-way-rules-all game and more an encompassing custom experience for casual and competitive gamers alike.
It may seem like a small step, adding these two different factions to Fortnite. But it means much more for the long term.