Fortnite's newest mode is a frantic dopamine machine that lives up to the hype—and I hope it's a n

I am an invisible sprinting rifleman with unlimited stamina and ammo. If I switch to my SMG it will teleport me, blink-style, whenever I double jump. And if an enemy somehow shoots me they're pinged in red, visible through walls, as my shields automatically regenerate to patch the damage.

I am a Fortnite god.

I [[link]] still find a way to lose, of course.

As it often does, the pressure of reaching the final two players makes me grip my mouse tighter. I whiff every shot as we carousel around a bandstand in Pleasant Park, and our awkward dance only ends when my opponent blasts me cleanly with their Exotic shotgun.

Thankfully, in Fortnite’s newest mode, Blitz Royale, redemption is never far away. Five minutes later, armed with different superpowers and down to the final three, I ambush a dueling pair with my own Exotic shotgun, which boosts my speed as I land damage, and get my win.

Bitesize battle

As I write this, more people are playing Blitz Royale than anything else in Fortnite. Its five-minute rounds are dopamine machines designed with phones in mind but, judging by the community reaction, it's hooked players on every platform. And while it is technically temporary, confirmed to last until at least mid-August, I'd be shocked if [[link]] Epic discarded it. Its popularity demands permanency.

What I fear is that it will draw people away from the main battle royale modes, draining them of the player bases they need and fragmenting an already siloed community into even smaller packs.

But what I hope is that Blitz Royale's instant gratification draws new players, or encourages old ones to return, and ushers them towards other game modes.

Blitz Royale drops 32 players into a small map. Everyone has the same randomly selected medallion from a pool of 12, each with a powerful ability: one gives unlimited stamina and turns you invisible when you sprint, another improves damage on ranged weapons. Everyone also starts with an identical powerful weapon, currently an Avatar: The Last Airbender elemental attack.

Chests are everywhere, 'boons' that grant new abilities are plentiful, and you can swipe extra medallions from supply drops. The effects stack and if you can survive three minutes you'll feel supercharged. You don't choose which boons or medallions you find, but most synergise: a boon that boosts your speed if you mantle cover, for example, pairs perfectly with one that reloads your weapons during parkour.

Aggression is mandatory, both because you cannot hope to hide on a map this small and because killing levels you up, handing you top-tier weapons including Mythics and Exotics. If you're not firing at an enemy then you're falling behind the loot curve, and you'll suffer in the late game.

Knowing you can't stand still focuses your mind. It feels exhilarating to swing from one fight to the next: as one enemy falls, you're already sprinting [[link]] to another you saw in your peripheral vision on a nearby hill, with a plan to kill them and grab a nearby supply drop after. It is relentless and demanding, and if rounds were longer it'd be exhausting.

It is also an ideal combat training ground. Rounds are so short, and the next begins so seamlessly, that deaths barely matter, so I push beyond my comfort zone and take fights I usually wouldn't. I can already feel my aim improving, my nerve steadying in 1v1s.

It cuts out what you might harshly call the boring bits of Battle Royale, the mid-game lull when you're hunting for fights to improve your loadout, or looting quiet locations. And it shortens the wait between the most exciting moments: a handful of players armed with the powerful gear and confidence they've accumulated across the match, smushed into a violent, final mosh pit. In regular Battle Royale you can feel that rush every 25 minutes. Here it's virtually instant, and it's hard to resist the pull of just one more round.

But as much as I'm enjoying it, it will never be my favourite mode. Tension matters: 100-player is a slow drumroll building to chaos, and the rewards feel bigger because of it. Trimming the 'boring' bits erodes the lulls that make those high points feel so good. And when you can win several games in a single sitting, as you can in Blitz Royale, each victory crown feels less special.

That’s not me claiming regular Battle Royale is better than Blitz Royale—it is purely personal preference. But I know I’m not alone in preferring a slower burn.

If Blitz Royale lingers long-term, and I hope it does, it will never struggle for players. It guarantees action and adrenaline, and I will keep diving in when I want a quick fix, or if I can't spare the time for a 100-player match.

But I’m hoping that for at least some of the 180,000 diving in each day, Blitz Royale is their introduction, or re-introduction, to Fortnite, and that they'll branch out to other modes.

There's no building in Blitz Royale, so Zero Build is a natural stepping stone and, I'd argue, a more rewarding one. There are fewer absurd powers, fewer kills, fewer medallions, and fewer opportunities to feel like a god. But being a mere mortal in Fortnite can be just as fun.