The launch of Fortnite Season 5 was an exciting one earlier this week, as most seasons are, with new map changes, new metagame mechanics, rebalancing, weapon vaulting, and unvaulting, and so on. But there is at least one player who is not happy with the Fortnite Season 5 competitive side.

That player is none other than xQc. The very popular Twitch streamer has jumped into a good bit of the new season of Fortnite. His reactions haven’t been as completely positive as many others in the community regarding the new stuff in Season 5. 

Part of that comes from the latest features at the crux of the fifth season in Chapter 2, and xQc made it clear in his stance on the matter in a recent Twitch stream in which he went off about the subject. Overall, it looks like he is completely frustrated with the Fortnite Season 5 competitive changes this season. 

Most of his complaints are centered around the new features added to the Fortnite battle royale gameplay, rather than necessarily the weapons, balancing, and even map changes that are here. This is interesting and different from what we usually hear content creators have issues with.

Typically, someone will have problems with a new weapon or vehicle added (or taken away) from the game or the lack of new content or new areas to visit. But in this case, it has to do with the new side content that players can optionally do in the middle of the match. 

Epic Games added new features to the game that fit the season’s theme, hunters, and xQc is frustrated that these features are present in the Fortnite Season 5 competitive modes like Arena and others. He noted that he doesn’t want to go into a competitive game mode and see quests to do, bots, side missions, and so on.

Instead, he is just there to play against other players without all of the extra fluff thrown in there. Since Season 5 is all about bounty hunters, there are new features like completing quests for NPCs that you can talk to and accept side missions from in exchange for bars. 

The new unique bars currency can then be exchanged for special items and upgrades to help you out in battle. The side missions and bounties that you can take to defeat specific players in the match are added optional content that the player doesn’t have to do but adds to the season’s theme.

The frustration that xQc has regarding the competitive game modes is understandable, but it isn’t as big of a problem as the Twitch streamer makes it out to be. Except for the bots who can roam around certain areas, the NPCs and side quests can be avoided.

Nothing is requiring you to do these side missions. The rewards you get from there are fine, but not so great that you need to do them every time you see an NPC that you can talk to. In many ways, the Fortnite Season 5 competitive changes don’t affect Arena players who don’t want to deal with them.

That said, this type of mentality of just having almost all of the same core mechanics every season be thrown into the competitive modes could be a concerning thing if something later down the road does effectively break the game or, in the case of the superpowers last season. 

It is a tightrope that Epic Games has to cross in making the game fun for casuals but ensuring that the competitive players out there can get a fair and focused experience that doesn’t distract from the actual goal of modes like Arena, where skill is supposed to be the main factor. 

What remains to be seen is how the new season of battle royale will affect the metagame in terms of the locations and weapons that are here now. With the lack of superpowers in Season 5, the game is back to its roots once more than just shooting, building, and surviving. 

This means that the new and returning weapons like the new Mandalorian-themed sniper rifle, Dragon’s Breath shotgun, returning charge shotgun, and more will be more important than ever before in determining how players will remember this season.

Then there are the new areas like the two arenas in different parts of the renovated Fortnite Season 5 map, the heavy focus on the central area of the island with three new named locations there, and the removal of all of the Marvel-themed locations from Season 4. 

There is even the return of Tomato Town and the introduction of the first significant change for Salty Springs that brings the popular Chapter 2 named location that players have been waiting for: Salty Towers. This amalgamation between Salty Springs and Tilted Towers brings back the iconic nature of the Chapter 1 map. 

These factors will determine the state and future of the Fortnite Season 5 competitive scene. With the new year looming ever closer and likely more official tournaments and events, it will be interesting to see how Fortnite handles its competitive side in the coming weeks and months.