What I want from Fortnite's Simpsons mini season: a decent sniper rifle, a flying skateboard, and proper comms from Epic

Fortnite's Chapter 6 final flourish appears to be a Simpsons mini season with an entirely standalone Springfield-themed map, and it's coming this weekend.

Leaks hint at what's coming: the key art shows new skins and at least two of the weapons—the classic assault rifle, aka the SCAR, and the Thunder shotgun—while the full leaked map shows iconic Simpsons locations.

But we still don't know exactly how it'll play. So after a relatively underwhelming Chapter 6 Season 4, here are a few things I'd love to see Epic try before we reach Chapter 7.

A floating skateboard, and plenty of other mobility

This season started with limited mobility—now, between shockwaves, the witch's broom, Crash Pads and the Last Call knife we've got loads, and that variety feels fantastic. I hope Epic keeps it up.

Alongside shockwave grenades—the best mobility in the game—I hope Bart's skateboard plays a big role. It's in the leaked key art, which is a good start, but it'll need to be more than just a simple roll-along-the-ground transport. Why not play into the Simpson's famous opening credits, where Bart flies through the school's front doors and hurtles through the air before landing? A floatier skateboard that plays like the Surf Cube from Chapter 6 Season 3 would be very fun indeed.

A juicy SMG buff

SMGs have been in a weird spot for ages and rarely place high in the Fortnite weapons tier list. They're outclassed by rifles at range and shotguns up close: the Stinger SMG was perhaps my least-used weapon this season and, despite multiple buffs, the Veiled Precision SMG isn't worth picking over any of the assault rifles.

I think Epic needs to rethink what SMGs are for. They should, in my opinion, be a viable alternative to the shotguns that still dominate the game up close. Give them a damage boost that falls off a cliff at mid-range, or make players move faster while holding them. It'd disrupt the meta but if there's ever a time to experiment, it's during a short mini season, and whatever Epic learns from it could help inform Chapter 7.

Mythics and exotics that reward aggression

Epic has done the hokey-cokey with mythics and exotics this season: they've been in, out, and then in again. At first, they were hidden in two O.X.R. bunkers that were locked until you'd killed enough players to reach a certain rank. Now, there's only one bunker on the map but it's open to all.

For me, the earlier approach was better because it rewarded aggression, encouraging everyone to go for kills, while still keeping exotics accessible to everyone: opening those bunkers was noisy, attracting other players to set up an ambush. I imagine we won't be seeing bunkers on the Simpsons map but gating the wackiest exotic weapons behind challenges, or adding both risk and reward to obtaining them, would be welcome.

Keep the map stable so we can master our favorite drop spots

I usually enjoy Epic's mid-season map shake-ups, but I've struggled to cope with some of Season 4's changes. Tweaks to medallions, bosses, O.X.R. bases, capture flags and bunkers have made it difficult to stick to a consistent drop spot. This is especially tricky if you don't play everyday: I squad up with two friends who only play occasionally, and they're baffled every time their favorite location is transformed.

If the mini season is six weeks long, I'd love for the map to remain relatively stable. Reward players who master certain POIs, learning the best landing spots and NPC locations. Stability also makes any changes or new locations feel more impactful when they arrive.

More regular comms with the community, please!

After a year's absence, the Fortnite team's Reddit account sputtered into life in September with a post explaining a new patch. As I wrote at the time, the weapon changes themselves were, in some ways, confusing but fans appreciated the transparency. As one said: "Please continue this and never stop."

When the inevitable big rebalance happens a week into the Simpsons season, let's hear the reasoning! This isn't about holding Epic to account, or about the community being owed an explanation, but it helps everyone better understand the tweaks and makes players feel more included in those decisions.

Remember that it's Battle Royale

The leaked map looks smaller than regular Battle Royale maps. I don't mind that in principle, but I would like Epic to stick to a slightly slower pace if possible. BR should always be the place for more thoughtful firefights and strategy: after all, we have both Reload and Blitz for more frantic rounds. So let's not speed up the storms too much.

A proper sniper rifle

We've been starved for long-range options this season: the Falcon Eye sniper is one of the worst we've seen in Fortnite and the DMR, while decent, was removed from the loot pool a while back.

So why not bring back one of the big beasts, like the hunter bolt-action or the suppressed sniper rifle? A proper long-range option opens up an entirely new playstyle for people who don't enjoy shotguns, and while the map looks smaller than normal there appears to be enough open spaces to suit long-range battles.

Plenty of Simpsons goofiness

Ultimately these mini-seasons are a chance to go a little wild. We've already heard that donuts will rain from the sky, and the Simpsons is such a rich text to pull weird ideas from. How about a working Moe's bar that you can visit for a temporary buff? A makeup gun? Or an item that lets you slide backwards into a bush on demand, a la Homer? Go all out, Epic.