Should Fortnite Get Separate Lobbies for Controllers?

Fortnite’s mouse and keyboard vs controller argument isn’t really a new one. The debate over which control method is best has been raging for some time in the community but gotten a lot more heated recently. Since controllers have become pretty dominant in Fortnite, it’s got a lot of pros asking for separate Fortnite controller lobbies, with separate tournaments.

Separate Fortnite controller lobbies come down to if controller players have an unfair advantage. The argument itself goes back a bit further though. Originally, Fortnite was mainly played with mouse and keyboard. Like a lot of other competitive shooters, this was just the best way to play. Over time though, more and more controller players came into the game. These may have been those migrating from a console, being able to play with a controller but at a high fps on a PC is the best of both systems.

These controller players have gone on to win big in a lot of Fortnite tournaments. If you’re betting on Fortnite, a controller player might be the one to look at. Their ‘advantage’ is really just the controversial aim assist. Since this doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, is it time for separate Fortnite controller lobbies?

Pros Want Separate Fortnite Controller Lobbies

Competitive Fortnite players have never been all that kind about diversity in control methods. It should come as no surprise then that a lot of these players have been loud about the aim assist problem. While Epic has rolled out quite a few nerfs, it is never enough for these players. Usually, players will insist that any form of aim assist is an unfair advantage. Others see a more reasonable solution to the whole problem though.

At the end of last year, Bugha briefly switched to the controller to test out the advantage for himself. He did pretty well with a controller but doesn’t seem to have stuck with it. This might be a point against the inherent advantage of controllers.

Shroud recently spoke about the whole affair, suggesting that entirely separate Fortnite controller lobbies were necessary if you wanted to have a fair competitive game.

What else is notable about this particular clip is admitting that mouse and keyboard have their own advantages over a controller. Neither is entirely better than the other, each with their pros and cons. Aim assist itself exists since aiming is much easier with a mouse than twin sticks. So do they need to be separate?

Does Fortnite Need Separate Controller Lobbies?

Separating out control schemes in competitive events might be for the best. As Shroud discussed in the clip, when players are competing for money the disparities in controls become a problem. Epic has been experimenting with splitting up players for recent competitive events too, so this isn’t an entirely new concept.

For some tournaments and cups in the last season, players were divided into three separate tournaments. There was one for PC, one for PS4 and Xbox One, and for Switch and Mobile. These categories were obviously an attempt to give every player a fair chance, no matter where they were playing. This didn’t exactly work out though.

Xbox One and PS4 all have both mouse and keyboard players and controller. The Switch version of the game is essentially the console version with gyroscope controls, running at 30 FPS, up against iPad Pros running 120 FPS while set-up like a PC. PC, had two separate control schemes going on. All of these three separate Fortnite controller lobbies have a lot of variation in how you could play.

Do Separate Tournaments Work?

The last division of lobbies was definitely a step in the right direction, but dividing based on the control scheme could further level the playing field. The only real downside of doing this is prize pools. In the last season we saw Epic give out 3x the prize pools to accommodate a similar problem, but can we really expect 5 or 6x a prize pool to be given out purely to facilitate separate controller lobbies? Will the Fortnite World Cup be held three times, or have everything mixed in together?

The issue isn’t as easy to solve as it might seem. Separate controller lobbies for events would be great, but it would also force Epic to address similar problems in other platforms. With next-gen consoles sure to launch with Fortnite later this year, will they need separate lobbies and prize pools too? While separate controller lobbies might make some mouse and keyboard players feel better about getting outplayed, it could quickly snowball into a bafflingly high cost for Epic to actually implement.

Read next: The Best Fortnite Players in 2020

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