Fortnite introduced the Infinity Blade in an update earlier this week, and fan reaction to the addition has been divisive to say the least. Epic heard the fans and has temporarily vaulted the Mythic sword for further evaluation.
Heya folks,
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) December 14, 2018
We messed up and rolled out the Infinity Blade overpowered / without good counters, especially in the end game.
The Infinity Blade has been Vaulted and we are re-evaluating our approach to Mythic items.
Thanks for calling us out on this!
"We messed up and rolled out the Infinity Blade overpowered / without good counters, especially in the end game," an official Fortnite tweet reads. "The Infinity Blade has been Vaulted, and we're re-evaluating our approach to Mythic items." The post concludes by thanking fans for making the Fortnite team aware of its error.
For those not apprised on the latest Fortnite developments, the Infinity Blade was a single item sat on a pedestal towards the center of Frosty Flights. When removed from its holder, the blade could unleash devastating attacks and instant kills at a rapid rate. These problems came to a head in the game's competitive scene given that the Infinity Blade was introduced mere hours before the start of the North American Winter Royale Finals. With little time to prepare for such a monumental shift in the PvP meta, swaths of popular content creators were sliced down as kill counts soared to double digits. Despite outcry from participants, the Infinity Blade stayed in place for the next day of battles. Today's announcement, then, marks a shift in mindset for Epic Games, who is traditionally quick to react to audience feedback.
Even though the Infinity Blade has been vaulted, that doesn't mean it'll be gone from Fortnite forever. In most cases, items are vaulted and reintroduced with balance adjustments later on. In fact, on Thursday, Epic community managers took to reddit to explain how the Infinity Blade might be changed in the upcoming 7.1 update. In an effort to level the playing field, designers are currently considering restricting the ability to harvest materials when in possession of the blade.
We'll have more info on the Infinity Blade and Fortnite update 7.1 in the near future.
Fortnite is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC and mobile.
What are your thoughts on Fortnite's Infinity Blade being vaulted? Was the sword overpowered? Tell us in the comments section!
