How One Person Completely Revamped Fortnite’s Gyro Aiming Controls

“Shoot your shot” is something you hear often, and doing it can be pretty scary. Still, for Julian “Jibb” SmartIt helped Smart, who is a specialist in videogame input, land the job of his dreams: to develop a completely new system of gyro control for Fortnite, one of the most popular games on the planet. Simply put, Smart “shot his shot.” He emailed Epic Games and essentially said, “your gyro systems are great, but they can be better, and I know how.” 

That was quite a bold statement. Epic Games was responsible for the greatest battle royale ever seen. The company also boasted a successful online shopfront. Unreal Engine was also developed by Epic Games, which is one of the most popular videogame engines in the world. But, when you know something well, and you can back it up, a shot like this is worth the effort, and perhaps to Smart’s surprise, Epic responded positively, saying, “let’s do it.”

Julian “Jibb,” Smart is the creator of Flick Sticks and an input specialist.

So, Smart began implementing a new and improved gyro aiming system for Fortnite on PlayStation consoles, Switch, PC, and Android, and added officially-sanctioned controls for his creation, Flick Stick – features that are now live in the game as of today. We spoke to Smart about how development went, what it’s like for him to see his passion project in Fortnite, and why gyro aiming and additional options like Flick Stick are not just a win for advanced-level Fortnite players but a triumph for accessibility initiatives too. 

“This has been super exciting,” Smart says. “It feels like it’s been this four-year journey, and this is just the biggest step in it. One thing we talk about in the gyro community…is ‘what’s it going to take for this stuff to take hold [across video games] for there to be an impact?’ and it’s going to be a huge game; it’s going to be a game where controls really matter to players.” 

That game needed to be something as big as Fortnite – it doesn’t hurt that Fortnite is where Smart’s gyro goals landed, and now the one-person developer is beyond excited to see if gyros like this take off in other massive titles. It is always a good idea to include additional options and controls in a game. 

Smart’s interest in gyro input took off following the 2015 release of Nintendo’s Splatoon, a third-person shooter whose primary aim mechanic uses gyro controls. Smart, then 19, was eager to obtain Splatoon. It was a first for Nintendo developers to make gyro-aiming a default setting. He always knew that adding gyro to a player’s toolset increased precision and accuracy. Splatoon was the perfect example. 

Smart would begin developing new input controls and options as a side gig/hobby after Splatoon’s release. He fell in love eventually with the Gyro community. 

“I will learn how to do gyro controls well,” Smart recalls telling himself. “And then I can create resources. I can tell other developers and players with authority, ‘this is how easy or hard it is; this is what you need to do. Let’s just do it.’ So I made an open-source input called JoyShockMapper.”

Smart started a YouTube channel that showed people the same thing he did. Smart also created GyroWiki which is a repository of information on how to properly control gyro movements. Smart quickly became an important figure within the gyro input industry. 

Fast forward a couple of years, and today, things are finally official: Smart’s gyro input system is currently available in Fortnite. Smart recognizes that many developers are doing their best to put gyro controls in their games, but like with most anything, you can end up with a half-baked version without a specialist’s help. 

“They’re doing the best they can to give other people the controls they want, but they’re not [as good as they could be],” Smart says. “There are a few different things that almost every game fumbles on, and one of those that’s really important to me is a player having the ability to turn off the gyro controls at any moment.”

Last week, that wasn’t possible in Fortnite. This is now possible. A quick glance through the latest blog post about Fortnite’s new gyro options reveals just how much more customizable gyro controls are in the battle royale. 

“With Fortnite, what I’ve really appreciated is the understanding that if these controls benefit people, we should make sure people know about it, and if people don’t know yet that they’ll benefit from our controls, we should make sure they know about doing it,” Smart says. “Leading up to the release of this update, I see Epic really getting behind this feature and going, ‘how are we going to make sure as many people experience this as possible? How are we doing to make sure people see the potential and just give it a good go?’ And if it’s not for them, it’s not for them. I won’t speak on behalf of everyone, but I think most players will benefit from gyro controls.”

Smart says that it can take some time to get used to it, though – it’s a brand new way to handle aiming in a fast-paced battle royale, after all. However, he says some players quickly get to grips with it and that if you do, it could feel like your game style is losing a lot of its precision. Professional players and those looking to improve their game will appreciate the extra accuracy of gyro aim. 

“Experienced players obviously benefit from that [precise] directness of control,” Smart says. “There are far better players than I am who are able to pull off moves where people watching go, ‘that must be a mouse and keyboard player,’ but it’s not [thanks to gyro, control precision mimics the same high level of precision seen on mouse and keyboard]. To raise that skill ceiling, to have that precision, that means we do away with aim assist, though.” 

Gyro controls are disabled so aim assist is not available. Smart states that aim assist will be disabled if you have your gyro activated. Smart believes this makes it fair. Aim assist and gyro aiming would make things unfair for highly-skilled players. 

Beyond offering additional options for professional-level players, Smart’s new gyro options also greatly benefit the accessibility of Fortnite. 

“It’s been really cool to work with players who, whether it’s due to injuries or a temporary disability, or whether it’s a more long-term disability, cannot play games with a standard controller,” Smart says. “[These gyro options]They might be able to play. I have received a lot of feedback in that regard, and it’s been really encouraging to get into accessibility. It’s not ‘one size fits all,’ and so the only way to meet everyone’s needs is to supply the options to cover everyone’s needs.” 

Smart thinks that new options such as this will help move the needle in that direction. Smart has found it encouraging to see the push for accessibility within gaming over the past few years. This inspired him to keep advocating for gyro input into games. He’ll also continue to support the Flick Stick, which allows players to make quick movements and turnarounds, too, as it helps both pro-level players and enriches the overall accessibility of Fortnite. 

“It’s so awesome,” Smart says when asked what it’s like seeing his own Flick Stick as an official option in Fortnite. “It’s so cool. It’s been my hope from the beginning to share this information with the world and see that games can run away with it. Now, I’m paid to do this stuff in one of the biggest games in the world, and to see that feature I came up with, even just as a name…it’s unreal. And that’s super lame because it’s a pun [Epic develops Unreal Engine], but it’s totally spot-on. This really is a dreamlike experience, seeing my feature come to the world in this way.”

Smart is happy to announce that Fortnite now has these new features. 

“They’ve been incredibly helpful along the way, with feedback, contributing code to JoyShockMapper and other open-source projects, helping folks out, and motivating me to keep pushing to change how games are played.”

Epic Games deserves a big shout-out for their help and opportunity in creating these options. 

You can read more information about the new Fortnite gyro options here Game Informer’sComplete breakdown of all new gyro settings.