Fortnite
Fortnite
Fortnite seemingly shut down by Epic Games to end Season X
Nina Forneloza
Fortnite, the battle royale game that has become a worldwide phenomenon, is gone. At least for a little while. For the past few days, many Fortnite content creators have been sharing their thoughts on what the season 11 kickoff event would be. Though previous season-ending events were built up for weeks to a somewhat predictable conclusion, the only hint fans received on Fortnite Season X’s end was an ominous tweet …
Fortnite
Epic Games CEO promises his company won’t censor activists
Nina Forneloza
Epic Games is taking a stand against censorship from China. Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has announced that Fortnite developer Epic Games won’t ban players for political speech. This follows a week during which multiple controversies have arisen in the sporting and gaming spaces related to ongoing protest in Hong Kong. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets NBA franchise, recently tweeted his support for the protests …
Fortnite
Ninja hasn’t helped Mixer gain ground on Twitch, even after 2 months
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Microsoft made a big splash when it got Fortnite star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to leave Twitch and exclusively stream on Mixer, but Ninja’s move hasn’t really helped Mixer gain viewership. Ninja’s exclusive deal with Mixer has been in place since August, and he has had a strong start streaming on the platform. Despite that, according to a report by Streamlabs, hours watched on Mixer have fallen for over 10% since the end …
Fortnite
Epic Games facing Fortnite addiction lawsuit from parents
Olivia Richman
While Epic Games has certainly benefited from Fortnite’s continuing popularity, the game’s wide reach has also created no shortage of controversy. Fortnite’s most recent drama comes from a class-action lawsuit claiming that Epic didn’t properly warn users about the possibility of addiction. According to CBC, the lawsuit comes from a Montreal legal firm on behalf of the parents of two minors, aged 10 and 15. The report claims that addiction …
Fortnite
FaZe Clan files to dismiss Tfue’s case, explains New York countersuit
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
The legal battle between Turner “Tfue” Tenney and FaZe Clan continues. FaZe has reportedly filed to dismiss Tfue’s lawsuit from Californian courts in an attempt to move the case to New York. According to Dexerto’s Richard Lewis, Tfue’s contract states that any legal disputes between the player and organization must be settled in New York Courts. This comes after FaZe Clan filed a countersuit in New York federal court in …
Fortnite
Fortnite patch v10.40.1 brings Out of Time, Flint-Knock Pistol
Olivia Richman
Although many in the Fortnite community have been impatiently waiting for Season X to end, the most recent patch notes revealed that the unpopular season will be extended by a further week. “We may be almost out of time, but we’re not out just yet,” announced Epic. According to Patch v10.40.1, Season X will now end on October 13 to give their new challenge some time in the spotlight. …
Fortnite
DreamHack to host $500,000 Fortnite community tournaments
Olivia Richman
Missing Fortnite solos action? DreamHack will be hosting two Fortnite community tournaments with a combined prize pool of $500,000. The money will be evenly split between DreamHack Winter in Jönköping, Sweden, which takes place from November 29 to December 1, and DreamHack Anaheim, which will go down in Anaheim, California from February 21 to 23. Neither tournament will have qualifiers. Instead, Fortnite players who want to participate will be guaranteed a …
Fortnite
Twitch uses clip from banned streamer Mexican Andy to promote Fortnite
Olivia Richman
It’s not only Twitch’s new color palette that’s garnering attention. The streaming platform used a clip from streamer Mexican Andy to promote Fortnite on their new Watch tab. The seemingly innocent clip shows Mexican Andy doing the “Best Mates” dance after getting a Victory Royale. But many were left wondering why Twitch chose to give Mexican Andy such strong placement when he has been banned from the platform for two …
Next Fortnite Champion Series event will be in squads format
William Davis
Fortnite
Epic Games has announced squads as the format for the next Fortnite Champion Series. The announcement came after the first Fortnite Champion Series finals, which saw Team SoloMid’s Mack “MackWood” Aesoph and Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro, and Jonathan “yung calculator” Weber take the top prize in the North America West region. Epic Games didn’t share any additional information about the tournament, but top Fortnite personalities seemed to be aware of …
MackWood joins TSM after Season X trios win with ZexRow
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Fortnite
Mack “MackWood” Aesoph is joining Team SoloMid as the esports organization’s newest Fortnite player. TSM has announced MackWood’s joining on September 23, just a day after he took the trophy at NA East Fortnite Championship Series Season X, a trios tournament in which he played together with Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro and Jonathan “yung calculator” Weber. ZexRow has been a part of TSM’s Fortnite division since late 2018, but yung calculator …
Fortnite celebrates Batman’s 80th birthday with event, new skins
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
In honor of the character’s 80th birthday, Epic Games is treating fans to a massive Batman event in Fortnite. Players looking to visit Tilted Towers between now and October 6 will instead land in Gotham City. A familiar location for fans of the movies, games, and comics alike, those fond of the Caped Crusader will feel a sense of familiarity in the new cityscape. The area has a darker look …
TSM Fortnite streamer Daequan shares personal struggles on video
William Davis
Fortnite
Team SoloMid Fortnite streamer Daequan “Daequan” Loco posted a video explaining his absence from Twitch. The content creator has become significantly less active on social media than he previously was, and detailed why in a 20-minute-long video on YouTube. The reasons are unfortunately numerous. He opened up that in the past couple of months, he had lost family members to illness as well as some friends to gun violence. Unfortunately, his real-life …
Fortnite viewership crashes without Tfue, Ninja on Twitch
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
The landscape of Twitch streaming is starting to shift in a surprising way. Long the most popular game on the platform, Fortnite has seen a profound dip in popularity over recent weeks. The statistics highlight how tumultuous the last few months have been for the game, and the awkward position the game currently finds itself in. As discussed by The Gamer, Fortnite’s average viewership has dropped to its lowest point …
Tfue taking a mental health break from streaming
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Fortnite
One of the most popular Fortnite streamers and pro players, Turner “Tfue” Tenney, is taking a break from streaming for the sake of his mental health. Fortnite star Tfue is taking time off live streaming and has shared that information with his fans over Twitter. He added that he has been unhappy lately even though he has everything that he needs in his life, but that he has still been …
Fortnite patch 10.30 brings change to Moisty Palms, Greasy Groves
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite v10.30 has changed the battle royale’s map once again. This time, the update brings two new rift zones. Moisty Palms and Greasy Grove were fan favorites that Epic is bringing back for Season X. Moisty Mire, the swampy area in the southeast of the map, was removed in Season 5. Its replacement, Paradise Palms, became a favorite landing spot for competitive and casual players alike. Moisty Palms hasn’t come …
Ninja calls out haters who want him to stop playing World of Warcraft
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins had a little fun at the expense of his haters in a recent stream. While playing World of Warcraft Classic with Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar, Ninja entertained his viewers by pretending to be a news correspondent. Complete with helicoptor noises, Ninja began to lightheartedly mock some of his fans who don’t seem happy with his recent WoW content, also known as “asshat haters.” “As you can see, …
Tfue possibly facing permaban on Twitch after racist language
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Turner “Tfue” Tenney is in big trouble. The embattled Fortnite esports star used a racial epithet during a Twitch stream. He was playing a game of Minecraft, battling a group of pillagers when he said it. “You guys fucking killed all the villagers, man,” he said. “Y’all motherfuckers killed them n—–s. You can suck my pee pee, man.” This stands as a clear violation of Twitch’s community guidelines against “hateful …
Tfue runs into hacker as cheating in Fortnite remains a problem
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
A hacker more than frustrated Fortnite pro Turner “Tfue” Tenney during a recent stream. During a live stream, Tfue was trekking through Dusty Depot when a player shot him multiple times. Two of the four shots were headshots which landed before Tfue could even respond. Tfue immediately suspected his opponent of cheating, based on the accuracy at such a far distance. Wanting to confirm his suspicions, Tfue began to specate …
Nick Eh 30 to stream exclusively on Twitch following Ninja exit
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Fortnite
One of the most popular Fortnite YouTube content creators, Nick “Nick Eh 30” Amyoony, has been signed to stream exclusively on Twitch beginning in September. Starting a new chapter as a full-time streamer on Twitch, Nick is looking to move his 4.6 million YouTube subscribers to his new channel on the popular live streaming platform. To support him, Twitch is offering loyalty badges for free to Nick’s fans that have …
Ninja speaks to kids complaining about ping in Fortnite
William Davis
Fortnite
Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins had some words for the kids complaining about ping. Ninja posted a clip on Twitter, as in the middle of a game Ninja found a spot to hide and let the audience know his opinion about the kids complaining about ping in Fortnite. “Listen, every single 13 years-old to 18 years-old that is complaining and tweeting about ping. The fact that you even get a …
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.
