Fortnite's Summer Skirmish was a bit of a mess

Fortnite fans were excited to dive into the Summer Skirmish, a weekend-long event that pitted the game’s best players against each other, but alas the festivities fizzled out due to a mess of issues. Ill-thought out rules and oppressive lag all contributed to participants’ frustrations.

The lag was so bad, the game was near unplayable. Many eliminations during matches were the result of lag to the irritation of many competitors. Players would warp backwards while moving throughout the world, and buildings would pop-in late, causing accidental deaths and other problems. The competition was open to players worldwide, but was hosted on the game’s North American servers, which could be the cause of the issues.

Competition rules, too, backfired. During duo matches, most players simply hid throughout the match to up their chances of winning, leaving 30 players alive in one match when the final circles were drawn. Teams with the most eliminations were offered a $6,500 bonus, but that did little to draw folks from their hiding places.

Epic Games ultimately ended the Summer skirmish early, after only four out of 10 matches played.