Fortnite Patch v38.10 Privacy Update Sparks Stat-Tracking Chaos
Epic Games’ latest Fortnite update defaults player accounts to private, leaving third-party tracking sites and competitive leaderboards in disarray.
Fortnite has always been a game of raw numbers. Players live and die by their stats—kills, win ratios, and those highly coveted crown victories. For years, the community has turned to third-party databases to see where they stand globally. But a quiet change in Epic Games’ recent v38.10 patch has turned that entire ecosystem upside down.
With the release of the new update, Epic Games adjusted the default account privacy settings for all players. Specifically, the “Show on Career Leaderboard” option, which dictates whether a player’s performance data is shared publicly, was switched to “Off” by default. Overnight, millions of active profiles vanished from public view, triggering a massive headache for stat-tracking platforms.
The Breakdown of Global Leaderboards
The hardest hit by this change is Fortnite Tracker, the flagship site operated by the Tracker Network. For years, the platform has served as the definitive archive for player achievements, hosting seasonal leaderboards that track the best players in the world. With Epic’s new policy, those leaderboards have suddenly become highly inaccurate.
Because the API can no longer pull data from accounts that have not manually opted back in, the global rankings are missing a massive chunk of the player base. Grinders who spend hours climbing the ranks are suddenly invisible to the community. The site’s developers are now in a tough spot, forced to encourage players to manually toggle their settings just to keep the leaderboards somewhat representative of actual gameplay trends.
The issue goes beyond bragging rights. Competitive teams, tournament organizers, and talent scouts regularly use these third-party trackers to verify player performance and spot rising talent. Without reliable public data, scouting organic talent in the Fortnite scene becomes significantly harder.
Why Did Epic Games Make the Move?
Epic Games has not released an elaborate manifesto explaining the change, but the gaming industry’s current trajectory makes the motive clear. Player privacy, especially regarding minors, is under intense scrutiny from global regulators. By making accounts private by default, Epic insulates itself from potential regulatory blowback regarding data sharing.
There is also the ever-present issue of in-game toxicity. Public statistics can easily be weaponized. Players in random matchmade lobbies frequently look up their teammates’ stats, using low K/D ratios or lack of wins as an excuse to harass or abandon them before the match even begins. Hiding these numbers by default levels the playing field and protects casual players from elitist gatekeeping.
How Players Can Opt Back In
For players who want to maintain their spot on global leaderboards and keep their stats public on Fortnite Tracker, the fix is relatively simple, though it requires manual intervention. Players must navigate to the in-game settings menu, scroll over to the “Account and Privacy” tab, locate the “Gameplay Privacy” section, and toggle “Show on Career Leaderboard” back to “On.”
Whether the competitive community will widely adopt this manual fix remains to be seen. For now, the era of effortless, comprehensive stat-tracking in Fortnite appears to be over, leaving a fractured landscape where only those who actively seek publicity will have their achievements recorded.
