The video game industry is full of highly anticipated titles and exciting games that players eagerly rush to experience. However, after a couple dozen hours of playtime, how many of those games manage to make a lasting name for themselves? The few that do are the ones that stay relevant practically forever, spanning generations and embedding themselves into a larger cultural context. Fortnite, a battle royale game released by Epic Games in 2017, is one of those games.
Some say the best ideas come about spontaneously, which might just be the case here. Born from a game jam, Fortnite represented a cross between a shooter game and the construction genre, and developers thought it was worth pursuing. While it wasn’t initially a battle royale game, Fortnite’s evolution eventually changed how multiplayer gameplay could look online, much like how the online casino games reviewed on casinos.com are changing how we gamble. Here’s how.
Breaking the Gameplay Mold
Although Fortnite is known for being a driver of the battle royale genre, it certainly wasn’t the first one out there. PUBG: Battlegrounds was released around the same time as Fortnite and had already become incredibly popular worldwide, selling 5 million copies in just three months. After seeing that success play out before their eyes, the Epic Games team realized they had the potential to use Fortnite as a base to create their very own battle royale gameplay. Ten million players hopped onto the new Battle Royale mode, and the Nintendo Switch release boosted that number to an impressive 125 million.
What was so different with Fortnite was that it presented a “battle royale meets construction” format. It took the gameplay that gamers enjoyed in games like Minecraft and PUBG and effectively blended them together. Departing from the gritty realism that came with other shooters like Call of Duty and PUBG, the art style was vibrant, cartoon-like, and more lighthearted. This gave it a much more approachable feel that could appeal to a broader audience.
And while cross-platform play struggled to gain traction during the early 2010s, the demands of gamers wanting to play multiplayer titles with friends pressured game companies to comply. It took a few years of resistance until cross-platform play became mainstream in 2018.
Fortnite’s Continuous Evolution
While support for the long-term development of a game has always been somewhat important to players, Fortnite brought in a whole new level of expectation. People hang on the edge of their seats, wondering what updates and content Fortnite is going to come out with next. It could be a new weapon, skin, or a special game mode for the season—whether dramatic changes or little ones, this “always-new” experience took Fortnite’s gameplay up a few notches. Other games, both within and outside the genre, recognized the potential of offering constant updates, keeping players continually engaged and excited for what’s next.
Fortnite as a Cultural Phenomenon
Along with its one-of-a-kind gameplay, continuous support, and overall hype, Fortnite quickly became a cultural phenomenon. The game capitalized on all the features gamers were looking for in that era, but it also integrated with the real world with the help of streamers, influencers, and big-name celebrities. It was a brilliant source for viral dances in the form of emotes, while in-game events often drew inspiration from pop culture. For years, it was impossible to log into a social media platform like TikTok or Instagram without seeing gameplay clips, memes, or people performing emotes. In fact, one of the most viral streaming events on Twitch spotlighted Fortnite, with streamer Ninja, celebrities Drake and Travis Scott, and athlete Juju Smith-Schuster coming together to break viewership records.
The Birth of Its Esports Legacy
From there, Epic put together a Fortnite Battle Royale pro-am with 50 pairs of streamers and pro players matched with celebrities at E3 2018. For many reasons, this event was touted as the beginning of Fortnite as a mainstay esports video game. While it’s not uncommon for prize pools and events to be quite significant in esports, the Fortnite World Cup stands out as a moment in history.
Given the number of famous figures who participated in the competition and the grand prize pool (a total of $30 million!), it’s no wonder the event was highly talked about across the gaming sphere. An impressive 23,700 tickets were sold for the venue, while around 2.3 million viewers across YouTube and Twitch watched the finals. While that event was considered a one-and-done, countless Fortnite esports events take place every year, with prize pools of millions.
Microtransaction Business Model
Microtransactions, though controversial, have been made a part of modern free-to-play gaming as a way for games to generate revenue and hold gamers’ interests. While these microtransactions aren’t required for people to play Fortnite, they offer optional purchases for dedicated players to take advantage of, including fun emotes, character skins to look like certain celebrities, and the Battle Pass for extra exclusivity. While these microtransactions don’t give players an advantage—they’re all cosmetic features for entertainment purposes only—this model has still garnered plenty of controversy, with critics arguing it encourages younger audiences to make impulsive purchases.
The reality is that microtransactions keep a game’s player base engaged. As long as Fortnite prioritizes gameplay support over cosmetic enhancements and attempts to boost profits, it can continue to thrive, cater, and set the standard for similar video game titles in the future.
