Was removing Battle Lab from Fortnite justified? Understanding Epic Games' decision

Fortnite update v23.00, or better known as Chapter 4 Season 1, marked the vaulting of a unique in-game feature known as Battle Lab. It was first introduced to the game with the update v11.31 back in 2019. Players were able to jump into their own Battle Royale Island and set the rules of gameplay.

Many players took advantage of Battle Lab to try out new strategies and test out weapons/items/vehicles in a casual setting. Content creators, on the other hand, use Battle Lab to create engaging content that would otherwise be impossible to create in a live Battle Royale match. Unfortunately, all of this came to an end, and for what it's worth, it was probably for the best.

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Starter Island is an improvement over Battle Lab, but is confusing to find in Fortnite

An in-game tutorial on how to use this feature would be useful (Image via Epic Games/Fortnite)

While the removal of the Battle Lab was a slap in the face for the community, Epic Games did provide a replacement for it in the form of a Starter Island. Similar to Battle Lab, players can set up rules of engagement and tweak the settings based on their personal preferences. In many ways, Starter Island is far superior to Battle Lab and is far more well-integrated.

The Battle Royale Island gets upgraded from time to time, which allows players to experience the island in real-time. Apart from this feature, the consoles present on Starter Island allow for diverse choices in terms of gameplay and mechanics. Suffice to say, the entire thing is an upgrade, and a good one at that.

The only problem is that most players have no idea how to use it in-game. Since it doesn't appear in the Discover Tab, most players seem to think that it's a feature limited to content creators, but that's certainly not true. It's accessible to everyone, granted that they know how to access it in the first place. That said, here's how to access it.

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Step 1: Go to Create Tab

Navigate in-game to find the Create Tab (Image via Epic Games/Fortnite)

The first step to access the Starter Island is to go to the Create Tab section and get started. Once selected, players will be whisked away to the Custom Map area. From there, look for a Rift that appears on the ground and walk towards it.

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Step 2: Select the type of island

Choose the island type (Image via Epic Games/Fortnite)

After reaching the Rift, approach the console and interact with it. Choose the island type as Battle Royale Island and press Confirm to get started.

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Step 3: Go to the Menu once loaded into the Starter Island and press "Start Game"

Start the game when ready (Image via Epic Games/Fortnite)

Once the island is created, step into the Rift and wait for it to load. Once the loading finishes, you'll be standing atop the platform over the Battle Royale Island. When you're ready, call up the Menu screen and press Start Game to enter a match.

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Before starting the match, players can interact with different consoles to tweak settings such as Storm Intensity, Loot Pool, and also the number of Reality Augments that can be selected in-game. This allows for a fully customized gaming experience. The lobby will consist of Target Bots, which are overtly easy to eliminate and will yield no experience points for the same.

Tweak settings as needed (Image via Epic Games/Fortnite)

As stated, Starter Island is merely a place for players to experiment and have fun. However, it should be mentioned that NPCs won't spawn on the island despite being marked on the mini-map. It's unclear why Epic Games chose to keep them locked, but that's a discussion for another time.

With all of that being said, while it might take a bit of navigating to find it in-game, Starter Island is better and superior to Battle Lab in many ways. While Battle Lab may have been the norm for a few years, with the passing of time, things tend to change. It will be interesting to see what Epic Games has planned for the future.

With Unreal Editor for Fortnite now live, there's a lot that players can do in terms of creation. Perhaps in the future, Starter Island will be able to be tweaked using the limited assets given to creators with UEFN.