Fortnite
Fortnite
Fortnite data miner claims aim assist was nerfed, no word from Epic
Olivia Richman
Keyboard and mouse Fortnite players on Windows and Mac may possibly have reason to rejoice. Trusted Fortnite data miner Lucas7Yoshi has found some new information that could potentially mean aim assist is being nerfed on PC. He said that a simple restart of your game should apply the changes uncovered. A hotfix was deployed adjusting aim assist on Windows and MacI do not know what these values exactly mean, but …
Fortnite
Ninja bans ZexRow from Ninja Battles tournament for insults
Olivia Richman
After swearing and insulting other competitors, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins decided to ban Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro from future Ninja Battle events. Ninja announced his own Fortnite tournament series on May 28. The six-week online competition features an $80,000 prize pool each week. After only the first week of play, one pro player has already been banned from future editions of the event. Team SoloMid’s ZexRow had 59 points at the end …
Fortnite
Fortnite’s rarest skin, Recon Expert, back in shop for limited time
Olivia Richman
Epic Games made Fortnite’s rarest skin of all time, Recon Expert, available for purchase in stores for about two minutes on the morning of May 27. Usually, Epic changes their rotating selection of available skin offerings at night. But for some reason, it seemed to go live at the wrong time, allowing a few lucky players to grab the rare skin early. Others were not as fortunate, getting cut off …
Fortnite
Ninja calls follower “brainwashed” after he’s accused of toxicity
Olivia Richman
Even thought Tyler “Ninja” Blevins left Twitch for Mixer, his friendship with streamers from his former home are still strong as ever. While they may not play Fortnite together as much as they used to, Ninja is still close with fellow popular streamers, DrLupo, TimTheTatman and CouRageJD. The four famous content creators often play a variety of games together, sharing jokes and laughs along the way. When a Mixer viewer …
Fortnite
TimTheTatman continues Fortnite controller debate with a big insult
Olivia Richman
Cross-platform play in Fortnite hasn’t united the gaming community like Epic thought it would. Instead, it started an ongoing debate with seemingly no end over keyboard and mouse versus controller players. The competitive community has been consistently divided on this topic, with many keyboard and mouse players claiming that they’re not only superior in their mechanics, but that Epic’s attempt to make controller players feel equal has backfired. Keyboard and …
Fortnite
Epic Games cancels Fortnite World Cup, announces new schedule
Olivia Richman
The 2019 Fortnite World Cup, Epic’s first major venture in competitive Fortnite, broke all kinds of viewership and prize money records last year. Kyle “Bugha” Giersdork’s $3 million first place finish was even discussed on late-night television. Unfortunately, this year’s World Cup has officially been canceled, according to the Fortnite Competitive Twitter account. Last month we said we would provide our evolving 2020 competitive roadmap. Today we wanted to provide updates …
Fortnite
Tfue says playing Fortnite is now unfair because of aim assist
Olivia Richman
It looks like Turner “Tfue” Tenney may be looking to switch to Valorant after getting fed up with how “unfair” his original game of choice has been lately. In a recent stream, Tfue started to get really frustrated after being eliminated by a “controller player with a fucking drum gun.” He immediately called Forntite “dog shit” before going into a longer rant on why the game that made him famous …
Fortnite
Ninja flexes his Mixer money at haters harassing him in Fortnite
Olivia Richman
When Tyler “Ninja” Blevins first moved to Mixer, the Fortnite streamer’s fans and haters alike wondered what had prompted him to leave Twitch. He was making millions off of the platform’s subscription service, not to mention a lot of other cash that was rolling in. His wife had hinted that his move was related to Twitch’s restrictive contract terms and the platform’s refusal to loosen their grip on Ninja’s sponsorship …
Ninja continues dominating Mixer, hits 3 million followers
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has reached 3 million followers on Mixer. “Just surpassed 3 million followers on Mixer over the last 8 months. I cannot thank you enough for the support you all continue to give me with this leap of faith huge switch in my streaming career. Love you guys,” Ninja tweeted. When Ninja first moved to Mixer, he quickly became the most-viewed and most-followed content creator on …
Grenades removed from Fortnite due to game-breaking glitch
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Per usual, gamers can’t have nice things. Epic Games has temporarily disabled grenades in Fortnite after some gamers discovered discovered a game-breaking bug where they could throw more than one grenade at once. “Due to an issue, the Grenade has been temporarily disabled in Battle Royale. We’ll provide an update when the Grenade has been re-enabled,” Fortnite tweeted out. The maximum grenades people can carry in battle royale mode is six. …
Myth frustrated with Fortnite’s lack of new content, communication
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Team SoloMid’s Ali “Myth” Kabbani is back with another Fortnite rant. It doesn’t seem like Fortnite pro Myth is too excited with the way Fortnite is going or with how Epic handles updates and communication with their playerbase. On a podcast hosted by Mizkif, Myth decided to open up about all his frustrations with the popular battle royale. When someone asked if Myth liked playing the same game every day, …
Breaking down Ninja’s net worth in 2020
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite personality Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is one of the most popular and successful streamers in the world. He had the most followers on Twitch and broke multiple records before announcing a move to Mixer last year. But what does all of that amount to money-wise? According to Esportspedia, Ninja has an estimated net worth of $10 million. Only in recent years have people been able to make a living streaming …
Fortnite pro Bugha calls controller aim assist “hacking”
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Ever since Epic Games introduced cross-platform play to Fortnite, the community has been debating if keyboard and mouse players should be competing against controller players. At first, this was because controller players were at a severe disadvantage, thanks to the keyboard and mouse’s superior accuracy and movement capabilities. But when Epic Games added aim assist for controller players, allowing them to more easily track targets, PC players began to feel …
FaZe Clan indefinitely suspends Dubs after racial slur on stream
Steven Rondina
News
Daniel “Dubs” Walsh has landed himself in hot water. The Fortnite esports competitor has been suspended by FaZe Clan for using racist language. The moment came during another streamer’s broadcast, but was quickly clipped and spread across social media. During a firefight, Dubs clearly uses a racial epithet with an extended pause between the two. From there, his teammate shouts “yo, I’m streaming, I’m streaming.” A long, awkward pause follows …
Ninja and Nickmercs clash over Fortnite’s mouse vs. keyboard debate
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins called console players “trash” and apparently Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff didn’t take kindly to that. Keyboard and mouse have an advantage over console controllers thanks to their larger range of motion and higher sensitivity. Like many other developers, Epic attempted to balance the two by putting aim assist on controllers, allowing them to track their opponents more easily. This is something Ninja called “broken” in his recent stream. …
Dr Disrespect gets a challenge from WWE’s Undertaker
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Twitch personality Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm IV’s charisma and gaming skill have combined to make his character’s history and lore fascintating enough to garner him a television show and memoir deals. But now Dr Disrespect’s timeline getting even jucier. In a recent stream, fans were on the edge of their seats when Dr Disrespect’s seemingly innocent stroll was interrupted by a message telling him to pick up. His followers frantically …
Ninja lashes out in a big way at Fortnite Season 2 “haters”
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is coming to Epic’s aid once again and defending Fortnite against “haters.” Fortnite’s Chapter 2 Season 1 was the longest lasting season in the battle royal’s history, with Season 2 being postponed multiple times. Many players found themselves getting impatient, their imaginations souring and expectations rising. Of course, fans were hoping for a lot after the delay. After streaming Season 2 for his Mixer followers for a …
Study reveals which Twitch streamers earn the most money from subs
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
With Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Mike “shroud” Grzesiek both on Mixer, other popular streamers have taken over Twitch. One study by Little Loans showed just how much money the top Twitch streamers are earning from their subscribers. While streamers also earn money from sponsors, deals, and advertisements, their subscriber count is often their largest source of income. Subscribers pay streamers monthly for a variety of exclusive perks, and often just to …
Ninja rages against Fortnite Chapter 2 meta, bashes unvaulted guns
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was quick to compliment Epic Games on their battle royal’s long-awaited Chapter 2. But after only a few days, Ninja seems to have some strong negative opinions about the game’s emerging meta. Weapons like the Minigun and Rapid Fire SMG were unvaulted for Chapter 2 and while some players were excited, it seems that Ninja isn’t a big fan of the new playstyle that’s formed …
MrSavage wins $250,000 DreamHack Anaheim Fortnite tournament
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Popular Fortnite pro Martin “MrSavage” Foss Andersen won DreamHack Anaheim’s Fortnite tournament this weekend. MrSavage won $30,000 of the $250,000 prize pool, leaving the remaining amount to be split between the 99 runners-up. Second place went to Ghost Gaming’s Timothy “Bizzle” Miller, while nanolite took third place. “I’m just really happy all my hard work has paid off. I’ve been playing a lot over the past year trying to really …
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.
