Summary
Matchmaking is creating new public lobbies instead of filling existing ones, causing player fragmentation.
Please select what you are reporting on:
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Matchmaking
Steps to Reproduce
Publish a Creative/UEFN island with enough concurrent players.
Allow players to join the island through public matchmaking.
Wait until one or more public lobbies are active.
Continue allowing new players to join over time.
Observe that new public lobbies are frequently created instead of matchmaking players into existing lobbies that still have available slots.
Expected Result
Players should be matched into existing public lobbies whenever possible until they reach their player limit. New public lobbies should only be created when existing ones are full or cannot accept additional players.
Observed Result
The matchmaking system frequently creates new public lobbies even when existing public lobbies have plenty of available space. This splits the player base across many nearly empty lobbies, making it difficult for players to find populated games. The issue appears to fluctuate throughout the day, with some periods working normally and others creating new lobbies every few minutes.
Platform(s)
All
Island Code
9653-9433-1421
Additional Notes
This issue has been occurring for approximately the last one to two weeks.
It does not appear to be related to the island itself, as multiple creators have reported similar behavior. The frequency varies depending on the time of day. During some periods, matchmaking behaves normally, while at other times it creates new public lobbies every few minutes (sometimes in less than 20 minutes), even though existing lobbies are not full.
This significantly impacts player retention and discovery because the active player base is continuously split across multiple low-population sessions instead of being consolidated into the busiest lobby.