Fortnite launched Season 8 on Thursday with some notable changes including a new battle pass with unlockable items, a significant map change, pirate cannons and, to the pleasure of many players, the removal of the X-4 Stormwing plane. Fortnite also improved its “World Marker” system, allowing players to mark certain items on the map, identify enemies, and see the distance away from a particular marker. These improvements are certainly not unique to Fortnite and may have been inspired by Apex Legends. Apex launched with a well-executed ping system, which players viewed as a great upgrade for a battle royale game. Fortnite’s quick improvement of the marker system shows that it’s taking community feedback to heart.

We recently wrote about Fortnite’s aggressive Overtime Challenges to win players back from Apex Legends, which likely cost Epic tens of millions in foregone revenue by offering the Season 8 Battle Pass for free. That decision, along with the recent updates to Fortnite, shows that gamers are better off in free-to-play games that have to iterate and improve on the fly. In the past, changes would only be incorporated in future releases of a game, with players having to pay for the new game. Free-to-play developers must always think about ways to better service their communities or risk losing players.

See the Fortnite Season 8 trailer below:

Disclaimer: We actively write about the themes in which we invest or may invest: virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics. From time to time, we may write about companies that are in our portfolio. As managers of the portfolio, we may earn carried interest, management fees or other compensation from such portfolio. Content on this site including opinions on specific themes in technology, market estimates, and estimates and commentary regarding publicly traded or private companies is not intended for use in making any investment decisions and provided solely for informational purposes. We hold no obligation to update any of our projections and the content on this site should not be relied upon. We express no warranties about any estimates or opinions we make.