'It took a while, we know': Epic Games is introducing a first-person camera to Fortnite, which I'll probably just use to look at all the Peter Griffin skins

Fortnite is getting a new camera perspective, and I'm cautiously excited to see what that means for the battle royale. It was revealed in a presentation slide during the State of Unreal livestream at GDC 2024. It was here that Epic Games not only outlined a public roadmap for Fortnite but also confirmed that we'll likely get to play in first-person perspective later this year. 

You can get a proper look at what the first-person camera will be like around an hour and six minutes into the livestream as a couple of short videos are shown off. It does look a lot more detailed compared to what gazing down a scope currently looks like, which is definitely a relief—you may not think about it much, but Fortnite is surprisingly beautiful and littered with all sorts of helpful items, so it would be a shame for all of that to go to waste. 

I'm excited to see Fortnite in a new way, but this change does raise some questions: Will it be its own separate mode or just an option for players to switch to during a match? None of this is clear yet, and I can only think of a couple of scenarios where a first-person camera would be better than just having the regular third-person perspective. 

Fortnite, like any battle royale, is chaotic. With players dropping from the sky, zipping around using Attack on Titan's ODM gear, or crashing around in a storm of lightning, you never know where your next opponent is going to come from, so building forts or just stealthily running around the map looking to get a drop on someone is usually your best bet to secure a win. Third-person perspective is great at helping you here, you can see around corners and get a better look at your surroundings just in case someone does decide to drop on your head. While I can see first-person helping you indoors or in tight areas where accuracy is more important than awareness, I certainly wouldn't choose to change my perspective for an entire game. 

Honestly, right now, the only use I can see this new camera having is just to look at all the incredible Fortnite skins and various locations from a new perspective, but that will probably wear thin after a couple of games. 

But it's not just a first-person camera, Fortnite's roadmap shared other upcoming additions like proximity chat, text chat, item trading, and custom quests. I'm personally of the opinion that every game is made infinitely better as soon as you add proximity chat. There's just something I love about hearing the distant wails of someone running for cover or the soft melodies of Nickleback's greatest hits as another player crosses your path.