Fortnite players frustrated over the lack of an offline button in the game

Fortnite, one of the most played and well-known games ever, has a player base of almost 200 million. But even a game as popular as Fortnite lacks an essential component—namely, the feature to appear offline even when you're online. While it's best to queue with a team, there are instances when you might want to play alone.

In an ideal case, you can change your account status to "appear offline" rather than rejecting teammate invitations and feeling bad about it. However, you can't do this in Fortnite.

The "appear offline" feature is present in almost all apps and platforms in today's day and age, where people prefer to stay incognito. Let's delve deeper into why it's not on Fortnite, the possible workarounds, and what the Fortnite community has to say about this missing feature.

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A workaround for appearing offline in Fortnite

Fortnite doesn’t feature an "appear offline" button; however, there is a button to change it to appear "away." Here’s how you can do it:

• Open Fortnite and click on the three horizontal lines in the top left-hand corner.
• Locate your profile picture in the upper-left corner of the menu.
• You'll now see the 'Online Status' option, which can be toggled to 'Away' to appear offline.

However, it's important to note that even after changing your status to "away," the game still shows your activity when you queue into a match or when you are in the lobby. This basically makes the whole feature redundant, as instead of showing that you're online, it just shows that you're away while also showing all your online activity.

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What does the community have to say

We need an offline/invisible option byu/Historical_Split6059 inFortNiteBR

Players have yearned for the "appear offline" function, but to no effect, as Epic Games seemed unconcerned with their complaints. A Reddit user even attempted to contact Epic Games through email, but all they received in return was a "Thanks for your feedback" message and a note stating that they were aware that this isn't a feature.

Even on platforms like Steam and Playstation, players may choose to become invisible by disabling the feature to show that they're online. This helps them play their favorite games without making their status known to their whole friend list.

When players want some alone time or want to enjoy a game without the pressure of joining others, this option is really helpful, and developers should understand this.

Many users on Reddit even shed light on Epic Games' disregard for players' privacy. This is not a surprise, as even in the past, the company has been accused of collecting users' data without their permission; the company was even fined a billion dollars for a violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

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Key takeaway

The absence of an offline button sticks out as a striking omission and is among one of the most demanded features in the game. In a time when privacy and control over one's online appearance are treasured.

Players are hoping that Epic Games will take their suggestions into consideration and maybe include this feature in the future, boosting the overall gaming experience for all fans.