Fortnite
Fortnite
Fortnite Season 6 brings new maps, wolves, and Neymar to arena
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite’s Season 6 is upon us, and it brings tons of exciting in-game cosmetics, video game characters including Lara Croft, Raven from Teen Titans, and keenly awaited football star Neymar Jr.’s exclusive skin. The new season dubbed “Primal” kicked off on March 16, and it requires players to help Agent Jones stop reality from collapsing. The scenery sees tons of changes and the addition of new stuff to discover. Season …
Fortnite
Fortnite trio disqualified from FNCS after threatening Epic CCO
Olivia Richman
A competitive trio has been disqualified from the Fortnite Championship Series after one of its players told Epic Games’ chief creative officer to kill himself. Dictate, Userz, and Wrigley were preparing to compete in the FNCS’ NA East tournament this weekend. But the trio was disqualified earlier today after Wrigley told Epic Games’ CCO, Donald Mustard, to “fucking kill yourself.” The tweet, along with Wrigley’s entire account, has since been …
Fortnite
Cloakzy officially leaves FaZe Clan after four years
Fariha Bhatti
Dennis “Cloakzy” Lepore has finally parted ways with FaZe Clan after lengthy contractual disputes between the two parties. The former captain for FaZe Clan’s Fortnite roster and more recent Call of Duty: Warzone content creator has announced his official exit from FaZe Clan after a four-year stint with the organization. The streamer’s time with FaZe Clan has been splattered with controversies and drama since the beginning of 2019. However, Croakzy …
Fortnite
SypherPK begs Epic Games to slow down Fortnite crossovers
Olivia Richman
Fortnite streamer Ali “SypherPK” Hassan is sick of the battle royale’s constant crossovers. For the past few seasons, Fortnite has been heavy on its crossovers, including GI Joe, Alien, DC, Borderlands, John Wick, Halo, Ninja, and Marvel. Fortnite has also featured concerts with popular singers and even movie showings. Season 5 has been focused on these crossovers, bringing players tons of cosmetics but not many new items or meaningful changes …
Fortnite
Ninja may be quitting Fortnite over “clout-chasing losers”
Olivia Richman
Streaming megastar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins went back to his roots and played Fortnite in a recent stream, but he quickly came to regret that decision. Ninja even said he may never play the battle royale again. During a live stream, Ninja started complaining about getting stream sniped four games in a row. While Ninja was distracted in a fight, the other player would run up and kill him. Ninja got …
Fortnite
TSM exits Fortnite, releases all pro players from its roster
Fariha Bhatti
TSM has announced the withdrawal of its Fortnite division and is subsequently parting ways with three professional players. The North American organization officialized the news of exiting the Fortnite scene on Monday, leaving three of its professional players as free agents. The news wraps up Rocco “Saf” Morales, Kerry “Ferrrnando” Salas, and Mack “MackWood” Aesoph’s tenure in TSM ahead of 2021 season. Today we’re announcing our departure from competitive Fortnite …
Fortnite
Predator enters Fortnite Island in patch 15.20 update
Fariha Bhatti
Epic Games has finally revealed the newest addition to Fortnite’s bounty hunter theme in the shape of a supervillain. Chapter 2 Season 5 Battle Pass brings the sinister Predator as part of the game’s Zero Point arc. The villian from the 1987 classic movie Predator has finally made its way to Fortnite’s Zero Point arc, all set to wreak havoc. The creature enters Fortnite as something players have never seen …
Fortnite
Fortnite “damage opponents in vehicles” challenge has fans mad
Olivia Richman
Epic Games is often adding new content and challenges to Fortnite and not all of it is a hit. Players are asking Epic to remove vehicle-related challenges from the game. Vehicles have become an increasingly big part of the popular battle royale and while they’re entertaining to use, their value in terms of actually winning. While great for moving quickly around the map, the planes, boats, and cars tend to …
Here’s how Fortnite Crew members can receive their free emote
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Epic Games introduced the Fortnite Crew in December, and new members are having issues. Fortnite Crew launched in December with a lot of bugs, including many of its new members seeing an abundance of error messages and delays. To make up for these mistakes, Epic is now offering a free emote exclusively for Fortnite Crew members. Players must have a subscription to the program to get this “Members Only” emote. …
Spanish Fortnite streamer Grefg smashes Twitch viewership records
Nina Forneloza
Fortnite
David “Grefg” Cánovas Martínez has absolutely shattered the livestreaming concurrent viewer record, peaking at an absurd 2.5 million viewers on January 11. YA ESTÁ AQUÍ.Esta es la skin de @TheGrefg. Disponible el 16/01. pic.twitter.com/KZMHiRe1YT — Team Heretics (@TeamHeretics) January 11, 2021 The Fortnite streamer blazed past previous milestones, surpassing Tyler “Ninja” Blevins’ record by about 1.3 million. In comparison, he had 1.6 million more viewers than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had when …
YouTube Gaming shuts down Khanada’s stream after Twitch ban
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Streamers banned on Twitch often move to YouTube to continue their careers. But Fortnite competitive player Leon “Khanada” Khim’s switch to YouTube Gaming from Twitch has resulted in yet another ban. Built by Gamers’ Fortnite professional Khanada’s YouTube career is off to a poor start as the streamer was banned from YouTube streaming just 20 minutes into his first broadcast. His stream came to an abrupt end, leaving his fans …
Bugha signs new two-year contract with Sentinels on birthday
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite superstar Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf re-signed with Sentinels earlier this week. Bugha tweeted a video of himself singing the contract. Sentinel replied, “Once a Sentinel, always a Sentinel.” Fellow Fortnite content creator Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler sent an enthusiastic, “Let’s go!” Proud to announce that i’m resigning to @Sentinels for another 2 years! ????#SENFamily #SENUP pic.twitter.com/FV9fd2VXjI — Bugha (@bugha) December 30, 2020 The two-year contract was a great way for the …
Fortnite leaker reveals some crazy new unreleased weapons
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite is full of out-of-this-world weapons and vehicles, from shopping carts to B.R.U.T.E. mechs. And there could be some even crazier new options on the way. Despite the fanbase enjoying Season 5 since it arrived earlier this month, data miners are never truly satisfied. They are always looking for the next wild update. In this case, a Fortnite leaker going by ximton found a series of unreleased weapons that seem …
Fortnite leak uncovers new vehicle with mounted weapon
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Epic Games is known to shake up Fortnite. This has included adding vehicles like the X-Wing fighter plane and the B.R.U.T.E. mech. Now, data miners have uncovered another new vehicle coming to the popular battle royale. The leaks have revealed a weapon with a mounted gun, one of the first weapons in some time to not only help players traverse the island but also to deal damage. The weapon was …
Fortnite copying Among Us with new The Spy Within LTM
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Epic Games has faced legal action for Fortnite being derivative of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in the past, but that isn’t stopping the company from taking pages out of other popular games’ playbooks. A new Fortnite limited-time game mode has been announced named The Spy Within. The creator-made mode serves as Fortnite’s answer to Among Us, with two spies trying to deceive and assassinate their way to victory while the rest of …
What happened to popular Fortnite streamer Tfue?
Nina Forneloza
Fortnite
According to Wikipedia, Tfue is the second most followed Twitch streamer behind only Richard “Ninja” Blevins. Tfue is most known for his Fortnite streams, but he originally got his start with games such as Call of Duty and Destiny. He got into battle royale games such as H1Z1 and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds before finding his groove in Fortnite. After a heated and very public lawsuit against popular gaming organization FaZe Clan, …
Master Chief enters Fortnite alongside The Walking Dead skins
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Fortnite’s stable of special skins is expanding rapidly and in a surprising direction. Epic Games has long done amazing work, but it’s expanding its stable further by adding both video game icons and pop culture personalities. During The Game Awards 2020, Epic announced two surprising new additions to Fortnite and one not-so-surprising one. Defender of humanity and destroyer of alien ringworlds, the Master Chief arrives as the next Hunter to …
Fortnite World Cup cancelled through 2021, FNCS return announced
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Unfortunately, Fortnite esports in 2021 will look largely similar to Fortnite esports in 2020. Epic Games outlined its plans for the game’s competitive scene next year and alas, those plans do not include in-person events. Notably, it will also feature the standardization of trio play after long bouncing between singles, duos, trios, and squads. We’re making some changes to competitive play in 2021. We touch on FNCS, in-person events, and …
8-year-old Fortnite player signs sponsorship deal with Team 33
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
The esports community was blown away by the recent signing of an eight-year-old Fortnite content creator. A newly formed esports organization called Team 33 signed eight-year-old Joseph Deen to their Fortnite squad for a $33,000 signing bonus. The young gamer was also given a $5,000 gaming setup. A press release from the organization states that Team 33 has been working with Deen since he was six. Co-founder Tyler Gallagher explained that …
xQc shares wholesome moment with a kid while streaming Fortnite
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Variety streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel showed a different side of himself in a recent stream. Known for his controversial antics and outrageous outbursts, xQc surprised his fans with some of the most wholesome content they’ve ever seen while streaming Fortnite. After winning a game of Fortnite, xQc congratulated his teammate, telling the younger kid he should be proud of himself. “You’re the real one?” the kid asked. “Yeah, I’m 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.
