Fortnite
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Two fan-made skins are coming to Fortnite this year
Olivia Richman
Two new fan-made skins are now coming to Fortnite. Epic Games held a Concept Royale to find the best fan-made skin concepts. It began on June 15 and the winners were revealed earlier this week. Those two winners will have their concepts turned into in-game outfits and will also receive $2,500 each. According to a post made by the official Fortnite team, the outfits will be debuted in December during …
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Ninja blames his toxic chat for streaming less on Twitch
Olivia Richman
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has been noticeably spending less time streaming and fans are wondering why. Ninja has decided to open up about why. Ninja is undeniably one of the most popular streamers of all time. He rose to fame years ago for his Fortnite streams, including his record-breaking broadcast with rapper Drake. Even after leaving Twitch, Ninja has come back to the platform to 17 million followers. While Ninja has …
Fortnite
Will Smith, Morty, J Balvin, and more are coming to Fortnite
William Davis
A crazy batch of upcoming Fortnite cosmetics has been leaked by data miners. Upcoming collaborations for Fortnite have been spoiled by renowned leakers HYPEX and Officer. The pair uncovered several new collaborations that have yet to be formally announced. There’s a ton of cool stuff coming soon for Fortnite, so let’s start with the most surprising new addition. The wildest upcoming inclusion is a new Fortnite character skin based on …
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New Fortnite Impostors mode looks like Among Us copy
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite has a new game mode and it’s suspiciously similar to Among Us. Epic Games has delivered a load of fun LTMs in Fortnite, but this new one has players doing a double-take. Fortnite’s latest crack at social deduction games is eerily similar to Among Us, Innersloth’s multiplayer game that took the internet by storm in 2020. The Bridge is under attack! Will you ensure the safety and security of …
Fortnite streamer banned on Twitch after child rape arrest
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Brazilian Fortnite streamer Raulino “RaulZito” de Oliveira Maciel has been arrested on allegations of raping two children. According to police, the victims are between 10 and 14 years old. Exact ages were not disclosed in the police report. RaulZito was arrested on July 27. Despite this, the streamer strangely remained on Twitch until August 12, at which point he was banned. RaulZito still remains a Twitch Partner, suggesting the ban …
Pop singer Ariana Grande coming to Fortnite with Rift Tour
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Popstar Ariana Grande is the next star to grace Fortnite with a concert named the Rift Tour. Fortnite had various popular musicians and singers bring their talent to the Fortnite realm, but Ariana Grande will be the biggest name so far to enter the virtual universe. The star singer shared a dramatic teaser of her glamorous outfit from the Rift Tour on Twitter. ???? #rifttour august 6-8@FortniteGame https://t.co/Mlf5Xpl9HO pic.twitter.com/pTgLJ7e67O — …
Fortnite introduces new Plasma Cannon in latest patch v17.21
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Epic Games has rolled out a brand new weapon dubbed the Plasma Cannon to the Invasion in Chapter 2 Season 7. Fortnite’s arsenal hasn’t seen a notable update in a long time. The developer has finally decided to surprise its fans with a new alien tech in its v17.21 mini-update released on July 27. The sleek Plasma Cannon is tiny, but it’s capable of insane damage. The Battle Royale’s v17.20 …
Bugha gets Icon skin in Fortnite including World Cup cosmetic variation
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
The winner of the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf is finally getting his own Icon series, joining Ninja, Loserfruit, TheGrefg, and Lachlan in this select group. Epic Games has previously merged pop culture with Fortnite’s virtual world in the form of costumes for Batman, the Avengers, and John Wick. This time, the company is paying homage to the winner of the only Fortnite World Cup Bugha with a …
Fortnite pros are fed up with RNG, demand 100% chest spawn rate
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite Season 7 brought a lot of new content, including many new crossovers with more still to come. But competitive Fortnite players are not happy with the state of the game and want developers to focus more on gameplay rather than adding new content. Players are getting fed up with the spawn rates in the popular battle royale. Epic removed the 100% chest spawn rate in the game, something that …
These are the rarest skins in Fortnite in 2021
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Some Fortnite skins are rarer than others, and seeing players run around in the game can get a lot of battle royale players feeling both hyped up and a little jealous. While recent months have seen a lot of pop culture crossover skins, some of the most desired skins are much older thanks to how hard it is to come across them. Here are some of the rarest Fortnite skins …
When will Fortnite Chapter 2 end?
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Fortnite Chapter 2 has been around for a long while now but that’s probably not always going to be the case. The popular battle royale title is still attracting players by the millions, but a big part of that is Epic Games’ willingness to take the game in bold new directions with huge gameplay updates. The biggest to date was the end of Fortnite Season X, which was followed by …
Fortnite x NBA event confirmed with NBA skins and tournament
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Fortnite is set to feature another huge collaboration. Epic Games has announced a crossover event between Fortnite and the NBA. “Fortnite x NBA: The Crossover” will see custom skin sets for each NBA team released in Fortnite. Alongside this will be other unique offerings tailored around specific big-name players who happen to be fans of Fortnite. This confirmed part of previous leaks from the Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit. Lace …
Fortnite getting NBA-themed mini game, LeBron James skin
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Epic Games shared an internal presentation that revealed a Fortnite road map full of collaborations, skins, and game modes. As the Epic v. Apple trial continues, the game developer has shared a quarterly business review from June 2020, outlining the battle royale’s current state, future plans, and strategic priorities. One of the most interesting and innovative changes that developers have been planning is a partnership with the NBA. The presentation …
Fortnite has made an astonishing amount of money for Epic Games
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Everyone knows that Fortnite has been an enormous hit for Epic Games, but fans are only now learning just how big of a hit it really is. Epic is currently in the middle of a critical lawsuit with Apple over the iOS version of the game. As is standard with legal battles, both sides of the courtroom need to provide certain information and documents to the court which are then …
Here is how you can celebrate Star Wars Day in Fortnite
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
You can now celebrate May 4 in an epic way by playing Fortnite on Star Wars Day. This new in-game event will celebrate the Star Wars community’s holiday by bringing back skins, cosmetics, and items from past seasons that allow players to experience the force. In Season 6, the Primal theme added simplicity to Fortnite. Before that, it wasn’t uncommon to receive Star Wars cosmetics and rewards in-game. The latest …
Nickmercs reveals that he is now a FaZe Clan co-owner
Olivia Richman
News
Streamer Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff is no longer just a content creator for FaZe Clan. He is now a part-owner of the popular esports organization. The rumor began when The Verge introduced Nickmercs as “part-owner” of FaZe Clan within an article about the popular Fortnite personality. At the time, FaZe Clan and Nickmercs had not publicly confirmed the alleged ownership but Nickmercs decided to make a comment about the rumor the …
Fortnite has come a long way over the course of the game’s lifespan. What began as an upstart early-access title with base-building mechanics would eventually transform into the world’s most popular and lucrative video game, capturing the attention of millions upon millions of players across the world and entering into the mainstream cultural lexicon.
But how exactly did that happen? How did one of many games released by developer Epic Games manage to transform in real-time into something with such potential, and to what extent did Fortnite really grow? The answers are indicative of what it takes for a game to go from new and struggling to becoming a global phenomenon.
The original vision for Fortnite was very different compared to the game that is so widely popular today. Developers at Epic Games intended to create a game that would merge base-building mechanics with the popular shooting gameplay that the company was best known for, from its experience releasing such titles those found in the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War franchises.
While that vision was altered even prior to Fortnite’s initial release, with a darker creative look becoming brighter and more reminiscent of children’s cartoons, the first release of Fortnite did feature that original focus. Titled Fortnite: Saves the World, this was a paid early-access release that met moderate fanfare and player enthusiasm.
A follow-up release would do far better. That follow-up was Fortnite Battle Royale, a free-to-play version of the game that featured the core mechanics and experience players most associate with the Fortnite name today. The battle royale game mode, thrown together in just a couple of months by developers, was at the time a relatively new concept. A multitude of players would be dropped onto one map to do battle with each other, accruing resources and weaponry in an open-world environment to better equip themselves for combat. Eventually, the game’s playable map size would shrink over time, forcing players to engage with each other until only one winning player was left standing.
It’s a simple concept, but in 2017 it was fresh and new. Players quickly flocked to try this early battle royale game, and within weeks of its free-to-play release, Fortnite Battle Royale was playing host to millions of players.
First and foremost, the success of Fortnite can be seen in the extreme revenue numbers generated by the game for maker Epic Games. Just a few short years after its release, Fortnite had already led to billions of dollars in revenue for Epic. This success was enough to send reverberations throughout the entire video game industry. Dozens of clones would follow, trying to recapture the battle royale magic that Fortnite had so successfully crystallized, but it proved difficult for most.
Money wasn’t the only marker of the game’s ascendance, however. Fortnite broached popular mainstream culture in a way that few video games ever have. Popular streamer and former Halo pro Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was at the fore of this wave of popularity, co-streaming with rap superstar Drake and appearing on numerous television talk shows to discuss the game and the craze surrounding it. Popular musicians beyond Drake also got involved with the game, as Travis Scott and Marshmello hosted live, in-game concerts to both popular and critical acclaim.
The Fortnite World Cup raised the game’s profile even further in some circles. Held at the famous Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, the event awarded $3 million to 16-year-old phenom Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, who then found himself paraded through mainstream media circles just as Ninja had been before him.
While its apex may have come and gone, Fortnite remains one of the most popular and successful games in the world today, continuing to play host to many millions of players while generating major revenues for Epic Games.
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