Fortnite professionals Tfue and Ninja disagree over aim assist on PC

Although aim assist has been deemed necessary for console players to enjoy fluid gameplay, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins opened up arguments against its use when using a controller on the PC version of Fortnite. His opinions have divided the professional scene, with 100 Thieves Esports streamer NICKMERCS and FaZe’s Tfue publicly debating in favour of the function.

While mouse and keyboard users are omitted from the option to use aim assist, those that plug their controller into PC systems can still reap the benefits of the camera automatically adjusting on the player's behalf to follow an enemy. Blevins spoke out against the practice following one of his deaths on stream, after it was revealed that the enemy was using a controller with aim assist turned on.

“Controller auto-aim dude, I totally disagree with it,” explained Blevins. “I don’t think it should be in the game. If you plug in a controller to a PC, have fun, there should be no aim-assist.”

This has kicked off a wider debate among prominent Fortnite players, with Nick ‘NICKMERCS’ Kolcheff being the first to weigh in against Twitch’s biggest streamer. “Anybody with a brain – they know that controller players, in the grand scheme of things, are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to the game of Fortnite. If you guys think that because of aim-assist and the recent changes to building that we’re not at an advantage? I don’t know, I don’t understand you guys.”

Kolcheff is speaking from his experience playing within esports tournaments,  citing Blevins’ lack of competitive play as the reason for the differing opinions. Although Kolcheff meant no offense to his fellow broadcaster, he does think that Blevins needs to consider how fast PC players can move versus the sensitivity of an analogue stick.

Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney took a more aggressive approach against Blevins, relating a controller to “a legit piece of plastic” when compared with keyboard and mouse. Not only would playing the game without aim assist “be so much less enjoyable. It would kill their game.”

It’s important to note that while matchmaking remains consistent by pitting PC players against other PC players, parties including Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 players can still use aim assist against those on PC provided they're buddied up before searching.

If the wider debate does continue and Epic decides to step in, it could result in the potential loss of aim assist on PC. Fortunately for current aim assist users, the publisher has yet to officially address the topic.

KitGuru Says: Personally, I see no problem with added compensation for the lack of control presented by analogue sticks, particularly if there is no prize at stake. How do you feel about aim assist on PC?

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