Feels like the goal is to reduce server costs, but I agree with many of the points made by Shock Maps. End of the day, Epic built an ecosystem that is strongly incentivized to create games with long engagement toward revenue optimization. For good or bad, this has led to a fast rise in tycoon and idle gameplay. But these player routines also benefit Fortnite since the game becomes a regular part of people’s lives. If I am going to school or work, I can leave my game up farming for me and the first thing that I see when I come home is Fortnite. In other words, Fortnite is the last thing I do before leaving, and the first thing I do when I get home. Breaking that routine opens the door to competing entertainment. Since I don’t have my game earning progress for me, maybe I’ll spend time with Netflix tonight instead (as an example).
The point I’m trying to make is we have an ecosystem built around engagement, so it’s a bit strange to discourage the most effective forms of engagement and push us towards active play only–especially as Fortnite gears up to return to mobile, where passive and idle gameplay are extremely common.