Fair warning: datamined documents are sometimes reliable indicators of what's coming in a game, such as if we get to observe that the Fortnite challenges a couple of days before or when the skins turn it in the match week or so before they actually hit the shop. When there's a full size skin from the game, by way of example, you can bet it's actually coming. Occasionally datamined files are less reliable, and we're discussing the latter right now. Recent sleuthing has discovered a new folder attached to the limited time modes with "comp" in the name, and many are taking this to mean that Fortnite: Battle Royale is becoming a competitive mode.
Let us think about why Fortnite may use a aggressive mode, to begin with. To begin with, it's a ridiculously high skill cap -- which usually means that the best of the top players may wipe the floor with people like myself. That is mostly due to the simple fact that high-level gamers are able to seamlessly juggle the construction and shooting mechanisms into a new type of level-editing shooter which really hasn't been seen before. Lower-skilled players are largely playing with a standard shooter with the ability to construct ramps. Right now Fortnite doesn't have skill-based matchmaking, that is part of the fun: that John Wick on the horizon may be a fool with a lot of free time or disposable income, or it may be the most dangerous player you've ever met.
Any sort of ranking system would also offer a little bit more of an incentive for those players to stick about: someone who has mastered the sport might just move on to greener pastures if there is not a new structure in which to establish themselves.
It could also begin laying the groundwork for genuine Fortnite esports. Esports with Battle Royale games are a tricky monster because random action can make things unpredictable, and sports thrive when they are predictable competitions that let player ability carry daily. Fortnite is a better candidate than PUBG, at least, since the resource needs of the construction system promote battle and dissuade camping, and camping is no pleasure to watch. Fortnite Items is the biggest game in the world, but it is far from the largest sport in esports -- it's difficult to envision that Epic is not considering how to construct in this way.
