Epic Games is already handing out Fortnite Delulu bans like candy at Halloween, after what you might call a disastrous first weekend, resulting in "thousands" of bans in the battle royale game. I'm no stranger to voice chat and online games, which is why I find this development to be so very unsurprising.
The Fortnite Delulu game mode heavily relies on proximity chat, allowing you to speak with other players who are near you in the 80-player match. This ensures total carnage, as only one player can win, so while you can form alliances at will, they all must come to an end eventually. Many FPS games offer such a thing; Call of Duty comes to mind, with me having a bit of experience with chat in that franchise.
While I'm sure the free Switch game's new mode is proving to be fun for many, it's evidently also a bit of a toxic cesspool for others, as the Fortnite Status X account reveals that Epic banned "thousands" of this over the past weekend. The statement also encourages players "to report voice chat behavior in-game that violates our community rules." Doing so gives the team "evidence to quickly take action against rule breakers.
Toxic voice chat can happen to anybody, and it does in pretty much every online multiplayer game, but being female can increase the amount of animosity you encounter. One Reddit post from Kilr_Queen75Xx dives into what the experience has been like for girls so far. In a nutshell, misogyny seems to be a somewhat regular occurrence, with some players telling female players to "go cook sandwhiches and get into the kitchen." I'd love to say this surprises me, but it honestly doesn't. I've experienced both sides of the coin.
Luckily, it's not all doom and gloom for female players, with one Redditor stating that "it was overwhelmingly friends to the point that we just hung out." Though they were in a team with other women, they seemingly met a lot more females than males. Still, another player claims that "oddly, I've had mostly great experiences." At least there's some positivity coming from Delulu, even if bans are seemingly prevalent at the moment.
Putting aside the horrid words you might hear, however, Delulu most certainly isn't for everyone, regardless, as players will work together to ensure you have a miserable time. People can tell each other exactly where you are, and even the teammates you pick up along the way can stab you in the back at any given moment. The chaos can be a lot of fun, but you might hate it.
Should Delulu not be for you, you can still enjoy the Fortnite Daft Punk collab, even if the French duo isn't actually getting back together. You can also check out our Fortnite codes guide to see what freebies you can get.