The Future of Fortnite Is in the Hands of Its Players

William Zachary Reed loved building elaborate castles throughout Fortnite's grassy knolls. The zany mechanics that anchored the colorful battle royale were second-to-none, until giant robot mecha suits spoiled his fun whenever he would jump into a match. Those suits, aptly named BRUTE, gave two players all the firepower, health, and mobility needed to melt Reed's health bar in seconds. At that point in early 2019, it was clear that the battle royale's game mechanics had gotten a little too zany for him, and that was long before IP crossovers gave Dragon Ball Z's Goku a shotgun and taught Marvel's Moon Knight to floss. "I despised them," says Reed, who goes by the name KingYoshi online.