Is Fortnite the Next Big Thing In Esports?
This year, Epic Games’ Fortnite Battle Royale has made a big splash in the world of mainstream gaming. In a single weekend this February, the game made a new record in the gaming world of 3.4 million people concurrent online players. Previous record holder was PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds at 3.2 million (though it should be noted that while Fortnite’s numbers include players on PC, Playstation and Xbox, PUBG’s count is made up of only Steam players).
“It’s been an amazing and exhilarating experience to grow Fortnite from our previous peak of 60K concurrent players to 3.4M in just a few months, making it perhaps the biggest PC/console game in the world!” Epic wrote at the time.
The game itself is free, but in-game purchases have brought in $126 million in revenue for Epic Games since its launch last summer. The mobile version of the game, released in April 2018, is already earning over $1m per day in revenue. Americans are spending more time on Fortnite than any other app except for Netflix.
What is Fortnite Battle Royale?
In Fortnite Battle Royale, the player is transported to a large colourful world with 99 other online players, parachuting from a floating “battle bus”. Everyone lands with only a pickaxe, used to gather building resources — wood, brick and stone. Guns and ammo are spread around the map and the aim of the game is to be the last surviving player.
Fortnite has a similar game structure to PUBG, but its cartoonish visuals and arcade shooter style sets it apart. The other aspect that differentiates it from PUBG is that almost everything in the environment can be broken down into raw materials which are then used for building. The construction of stairs, walls, floors, bridges and ultimately forts are an intrinsic part of the gameplay.
Mainstream social media and celebrity culture has helped the crossover appeal of Fortnite considerably. In March, rapper Drake tweeted to his millions of followers that he was following the live play of Twitch streamer Tyker “Ninja” Blevins, with Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend Travis Scott and one of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The event reached 635,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch.
Can Fortnite Become a Serious Esport?
Critics question whether Fortnite can transfer its mainstream popularity into becoming a competitive esport. They argue that it caters to casual video gamers and lacks the complexity to be played in serious competitions.
However, it should be remembered esports fans had similar reservations almost a decade ago about League of Legends, claiming it was too casual to make it as a serious esport. Starcraft 2 was the top esport of the time and had considerably more complexity and depth; LoL was thought by many to be just an easier-to-control Dota clone.
Fortnite’s future as an esport is uncertain. So far, Epic Games have made no firm plans to push the game into the world of pro competition, but its massive growth and popularity is undeniable. At the time of writing (01 May 2018), according to Twitchmetrics, Fortnite is the #1 most watched game and #2 fastest growing game on Twitch.
Whatever Fortnite’s future as an esport, it seems that the game’s growing status within mainstream culture can only be good for the esports industry as a whole.
Esports Interactive Platform is developing a global platform to enable direct interaction between brands, teams and audiences within the esports community. We strongly believe that we can help make a difference to the future growth of this exciting industry.
Please find more information about EIP and our roadmap on the EIPlatform website
See the EIPlatform Whitepaper
