Fortnite devs respond to criticism of “terrible” movement speed nerfs in Chapter 5
Epic GamesFortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 is here, bringing several new features to the extremely popular game. With some players extremely unhappy with the slow movement speed in Chapter 5, Epic Games responded to the wide criticism.
Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 is in full swing after the record-breaking success of the OG Season. Even though there have been several new improvements and exciting content like Battle Pass skins and map changes in this Chapter, fans have called out an issue in the game.
After the release of Chapter 5 on December 3, many players claimed that the in-game movement speed had been slowed down. Since then, many comparison videos of the old and new movement speeds have been floating around the internet.
Reddit user ‘phr00t_’ posted a comparison video about this issue as they claimed that the crouching speed was “~43% slower.” Several other players agreed with the OP as they said “feels like we gained the weight of a neutron star.”
“I was crouching around, and it took forever for me to get places,” said one of the players. Others could not even believe this change at first as they thought their “auto sprint got turned off.” Some claimed that this change was “nerfing stealth” due to the slow movement speed, while others felt that the devs were trying to “force people to use vehicles” in Fortnite.
After a lot of backlash, the devs took to X to explain the reasoning behind the movement speed changes in the battle royale. They started by saying, “TBH, it took us a few days to get used to it during our playtests too,” and explained the changes so both devs and players could be on the same page to discuss further improvements to the new systems.
Chapter 5 brought new animations and slightly reduced the run and sprint speeds. However, devs also made stamina recover quicker. Regarding crouching, Epic Games also revealed that the movement speed had changed, but they clarified that those changes make crouching even stealthier than before.
It’s worth mentioning that movement speed in Creative did not change according to the players, and they can still move the way they used to in that mode.
Devs said they will be keeping an eye on players’ feedback moving forward while they work on bug fixes and other issues players encountered in the first few days of Chapter 5. The community, on the other hand, praised the devs for taking the time to explain the changes and sharing their thought process with players. “I love this communication, this game is staying forever,” a fan replied.
We’ll keep you updated with the latest news on Fortnite Chapter 5 and its new mechanics and features.
If you are interested in Fortnite, check out how some think the player count will drop after the OG Season and how to get the Eminem Marshall Magma skin style.