Epic Games cracks down on Fortnite XP maps yet again

The Creative mode in Fortnite has garnered a lot of attention over the years. In fact, so much so that according to the CEO and founder of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, 50 percent of all playtime within the game is associated with custom maps.

Considering the fact that the game has three official modes, Team Rumble, Battle Royale, and Zero-Build Battle Royale, to have 50 percent of the total playtime coming from Creative is beyond belief. Given this scenario, it's hard to fathom why the developers are coming down on the Creative mode with an iron fist.

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Epic Games updates XP policy for Creative maps in Fortnite

Based on the latest information from one of the developers, players will no longer be able to mention XP on their custom maps. This applies to images, trailers, and island descriptions. Additionally, all existing maps will have to be updated to follow the protocol. Here's the full message:

"In order to maintain a fair and consistent experience, as part of our Discover experience, we're updating our policy on the in-game system promotion of islands with XP enabled. Mentioning XP in images, trailers, and the island description can be misleading and will be disallowed."

In essence, creators will have to remove any images and trailers that have the words 'XP' or 'Experience Points' mentioned in or on them. Additionally, any descriptions with the aforementioned words will have to be edited as well.

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Is this new policy for Fortnite Creative good or bad?

The answer to this question is, it's both good and bad. It's good because it can stop players from being clickbaited, which, in turn, is bad for individuals using clickbaits.

Many custom maps often scam players by suggesting that they can earn millions of XP or level up fast by playing the map.

While this may be true to an extent, after a certain point, there is a cap on XP earned. Over time, the XP gain reduces and often fluctuates. For instance, one player may get thousands of XP on one map, whereas another player may get only hundreds. Furthermore, since a lot of the players are children, these clickbait tactics work well.

For readers who may be a bit confused by this entire fiasco, Epic Games is not removing XP from any maps. They are simply preventing it from being advertised. Since maps that claim "Fast XP" often get more traffic, this reduces the number of players who could explore maps that have good content.

Having said that, this really doesn't improve the situation for the most part. Aside from open advertising, there are other ways to promote clickbait maps. The only sure-fire way to improve the quality of maps is to check them thoroughly every now and then.

Unfortunately, this is something that is impossible for the developers. With hundreds, if not thousands, of custom Fortnite maps now having an XP device active, it won't be feasible to keep spammers and clickbait users in check. Hopefully, as the game ages, better preventive measures will be put into place.