Fortnite: PC Aim Assist bug raises the questions of whether or not PC community wants aim assist

Fortnite Season 4 released alongside a host of bugs, as is expected for a game that releases simultaneous updates across nine... er, seven, different platforms. The PC release of Fortnite Season 4 featured a bug which disabled aim assist for controller players on PC. Although the bug has since been resolved, it raises the old question about whether or not the PC community even wants aim assist.

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Fortnite Aim Assist debate rekindled

@FortniteGame Aim Assist isn’t working please bring it back#BringBackAimAssist

— Krue (@itsKrueFN) August 28, 2020

Hello again @FortniteGame Can I have my aim assist back please? Do you not want pc controller players to play anymore? You already lost iOS players...REVERT AIM ASSIST

— Code 23Hyper #ad 🕹🎮👽 (@23Hyper23) August 28, 2020

If you’ve been playing Fortnite for a while then you’ve almost certainly heard the arguments already. Controller players feel they need aim assist to compete with the precision allowed to mouse and keyboard players, while mouse and keyboard players believe their effort and work towards learning how to aim is minimized when other players can achieve the same results because of the game’s generous aim assist.

This debate is fueled partly because PC aim assist has been very generous in the past, often raising the capabilities of controller players above and beyond the average mouse and keyboard player. Many Fortnite pros even highlighted how many of the top players were controller players, implying that they achieved their status almost entirely due to the game giving them a crutch.

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Mouse and Keyboard Fortnite players feel cheated

Keyboarders always complain about aim assist yet... no controller players are top 50 in pr look it up #ripcontroller #Fortnite #FortniteSeason4 @FortniteGame #Fortnite #FNBR #Bugha #Ninja #FortniteTracker

— ARLOYEETER (@arloyeeter) August 28, 2020

Reduce Aim Assist on PC fortnite

— #Devour Toby (@vehzt1) August 28, 2020

@FortniteGame pls take away the aim assist pls very much thank you

— Schummy Diamond (@diamond_schummy) August 28, 2020

It’s easy to see the core tenets of the mouse and keyboard players’ arguments. Shouldn’t a player’s standing in Fortnite be the result of their own skill? If the Fortnite community won’t tolerate a soft aimbot, why should they tolerate an overcompensating aim assist?

And these are all fair arguments to make. However, strict adherence to this every-man-for-himself mindset would result in a clear winner, the natural precision of a mouse would all but guarantee the PC community the top spot.

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Fortnite wants a balanced playing field to ensure the game’s success on all platforms

Like how is this fair keyboard has the editing advantages and building advantages and they even had scroll wheel now we ‘had’ aim assist that got nerfed a million times and Diagonal movement that keyboard players could do as well with double movement binds #fortnite #buffaimassit

— Plasma (@ohplasmaa) August 28, 2020

Fix aim assist or I quit this game

— Peter (@Peter30076535) August 28, 2020

Although siding with mouse and keyboard players would be the least controversial position to take, it would ultimately result in a situation that would be detrimental to Fortnite’s success. Because Epic isn’t content with just one community’s engagement, they have to account for all Fortnite communities, most of which play without a mouse and keyboard.

The hard part for Epic, then, is finding a balance between an aim assist that lifts players too much and no aim assist at all. Fortnite should feel fair and playable for everyone, and the fact that controllers offer so much innate advantage seems to be a thumb on the scales that helps one community to the detriment of another.