Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop was once a massive figure in the world of competitive Fortnite, but the star has stopped playing the battle royale title altogether, and finally revealed his reasons why in an October YouTube video.
Although CouRage got his start as a caster for MLG, he became synonymous with Fortnite in 2018-2019, going on to commentate several major events for the battle royale title — including the Fortnite World Cup, which he did the play-by-play for along with fellow star streamer DrLupo.
However, he has since stopped streaming the game altogether and has instead opted for other popular picks like Among Us and Warzone, leaving his Fortnite-centric viewers confused as to why he suddenly broke off from Fortnite.
While CouRage has been vocal about his hatred for skill-based matchmaking for some time, he finally explained his reasons for stepping away in a YouTube video on October 13, on the heels of the Chipotle Challenger Series.
“Fortnite was a game that changed my life forever, and a game that kind of took my life by storm,” he began. “I fell in love with it when I played right on day number one… and now, three years, later… is something I will cherish forever.”
CouRage went on to explain that when he’d first started streaming the game, he “loved it arguably more than any game I’ve ever loved before.”
“But, like a lot of people, I believe the transition from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2… towards the end of Chapter 1, I was already falling out of love with the game,” he admitted. “It became more stressful than anything.”
Citing a hatred of the game’s short-lived MECH robots after the Fortnite World Cup last year, he “wanted to love the game, but wasn’t able to,” also claiming that he felt its environment had changed from mostly casual to fiercely competitive during this time.
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Of course, skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) played a part in this feeling, which he said was “one of the things that completely destroyed my love for the game.”
“I think it took away the ability for you to have as much fun as you once did,” he added. “Now in these games, it’s super sweaty, every fight’s a minute long… it became more stressful than anything.”
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Although CouRage listed plenty of faults with the title as it currently stands, he made sure to express his love for Epic and hopes to work with the company for years to come, but will be shifting his content to other titles for the foreseeable future.
Epic have already revealed their plans to do another Fortnite World Cup in 2021, and considering how popular the former OpTic Gaming star is when it comes to hosting such events, it might not be too long before we see his name tied again to the battle royale.
