A recent Fortnite update has Unvaulted an “OG weapon” long-time players should be familiar with — the SMG From Season 1. As you might know, Fortnite is often in the habit of taking weapons away and bringing them back. This is true for almost anything, even season staples that players rely on. Developers do this for an arsenal of reasons. For specific situations, it may be about balance in the game. Developers may remove a weapon simply because it’s too powerful.
Why Is Fortnite Unvaulting the OG SMG From Season 1?
Epic Games typically keeps weapons around to promote competitive gameplay or introduce weapons to help balance things out and take down overpowered meta gameplay. Outside of the official announcement, the HYPEX Twitter account, with unofficial Fortnite news and rumor coverage, announced the Unvaulting today.
However, concerning Fortnite specifically, there have been lots of Vaulting and Unvaulting going on over the years with each new Season and Chapter. Sometimes the developers of Fortnite take weapons away specifically to tease their reveal later. Some weapons get Vaulted, or delisted, only to be re-introduced later. Unvaulting a weapon is almost like a release all on its own, especially since some weapons can be released and Revaulted multiple times a year. Some players may even return back to consistent gameplay because of a weapon they like making a return as well. In this case, the original SMG from Fortnite‘s first Season has been Unvaulted.
While this isn’t the first time it’s happened, the Unvaulted SMG of Fortnite Season 1 is certainly a rare sight to see. Right now, there is only just over a month left until the end of the current season, Chapter 4 Season 2. Getting players to return for one last chance at the Season’s items is a great strategy to try and encourage players to return to playing Fortnite again.
The old SMG has been unvaulted, up to Legendary rarity! pic.twitter.com/xEbJVj75jN
— HYPEX (@HYPEX) April 25, 2023
Concerning the meta nature of the game, however, the Fortnite update makes less of a splash than anticipated. It’s a standard gun, really, and is one that didn’t need to be removed at all. It doesn’t overpower players; all it essentially does is promote normal gameplay. The strongest iteration of the weapon was in Season 5, where it did the most damage. However, the return here is a pretty anticlimactic one.