Fortnite’s brand new Zapper scrapped in less than 24 hours

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Fortnite-Zapper-Trap
Was the Zapper Trap too powerful?
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games removed Fortnite’s brand new Zapper Trap less than 24 hours after introducing it to the game.

The throwable item rolled out with Tuesday’s version 10.20 content update but quickly disappeared again. Epic is yet to confirm whether or not it will be making a comeback.

The Zapper Trap is one of the most effective traps we’ve seen in Battle Royale. That’s not because it deals the most damage — it actually deals only 50 per shock — but because of how it works.

What made the Zapper Trap so good

How frustrating is it when you get into a fight with someone in Battle Royale, and they quickly build a box and hide inside it? Getting them out can be a real pain in the back bling.

Previously, your options were to destroy one of their walls and replace it with your own (which you could then edit to get inside) — but that isn’t always easy for the average player — or to keep applying pressure until the opponent finally came out.

But the Zapper Trap gives us a third option. Throwing it at a wall applies a zapper to either side of it, which damages opponents who get to close. And unlike other traps and items, it can be placed on opponents’ structures — not just your own.

Hiding inside a box is no longer an option for players who like to avoid gunfights, then.

Why was the Zapper Trap removed?

Well, that’s not technically true right now, because the Zapper Trap is gone already — just hours after it arrived. And we don’t yet know whether it will be coming back.

Epic pulled the item on Tuesday evening “due to an issue.” But it hasn’t explained what that issue is, or if it plans to bring Zapper Traps back to Battle Royale later.

It’s possible that Epic decided the Zapper Trap was too powerful and needed adjustments. That’s certainly plausible given how easy it made it to eliminate players in their own structures.

But we’ve had overpowered weapons and items in the past, and Epic doesn’t usually remove them to fix them — they just remain in the game as-is until they’re finally patched.

Zapper Trap’s future unclear

It seems unlikely the Zapper Trap is gone for good, but we have no idea when it will be back. We’ve asked Epic the question, but it is notoriously great at ignoring the press.

It seems we’ll just have to keep an eye on Battle Royale for further developments over the coming days.

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