Fortnite's battle royale mode took over the gaming world when it launched back in 2017. Allowing players to traverse an open map, building up their resources and weapons until they fought other players to become the last man standing, the Fortnite formula has stayed fairly solid since release. There have been massive changes to the Fortnite's map and story over the release of new chapters and seasons, though few expected the game to make such a monumental change as the recent removal of building in Fortnite.
Building a base to defend from enemies has been a staple of Fortnite's gameplay for so long, leaving many hardcore fans confused as to why it left the game and when building would return to Fortnite. Others though, who had stopped playing the battle royale and moved on, found themselves returning to a much simpler Fortnite that didn't require incredible reaction times and building skills in order to be considered good at the game.
The removal of building came alongside the release of Chapter 3 Season 2 in Fortnite, alongside other changes. It seems though, that the removal of building may be staying beyond Chapter 3's second season, as leaked future game modes for Fortnite show that a "no build" mode may be making its way permanently to Fortnite. Considering the overall reception of Fortnite's removal of building has been positive, it would seem strange to only allow this option to players for a limited time.
As found by a dataminer, there are currently options for Fortnite players to enter queues for Solo, Duo, and Trio matchmaking with the option of building turned off. While this is listed as a limited time feature, there are plenty of other limited time modes in Fortnite that ended up becoming a permanent part of the game, such as "Team Rumble", which features two teams of 16 players working to be the first team to reach a target number of eliminations.
Despite being listed as a temporary addition, "Team Rumble" has lasted for over a year in Fortnite, meaning that a "no build" game mode could very well become a permanent feature. With some fans ditching Fortnite's competitors Apex Legends and Warzone once they heard that the former game had removed building, it seems that keeping building as optional would help Fortnite grow its current player base. On the other hand, there are fans who've played the game since its early days that want a return to a more traditional style of Fortnite.
Fortnite is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
