Fortnite
Fortnite
Fortnite Championship Series prizes and schedule revealed
Olivia Richman
More details have been released by Epic Games regarding the Fortnite Champion Series, which begins tomorrow with a trios event. Announced back in July, the Fortnite Champsion Series has only made headlines so far for the inclusion of the B.R.U.T.E. But fans are finally able to see full details of the major tournament, which will have all of their favorite pros and streamers competing for a piece of the $10 …
Fortnite
Fortnite players not happy with Epic’s BRUTE explanation
Olivia Richman
Fortnite fans and pros alike are not happy with Epic Game’s reasoning for keeping the B.R.U.T.E. vehicle in competitive game modes. Epic decided to address fans that were dismayed over the developer’s decision to keep the B.R.U.T.E. present in the Fortnite Championship Series, despite it being viewed as overpowered and imbalanced. On August 15, Epic Games told players that the powerful mech was added at the start of Season X with …
Fortnite
Epic Games remove Gunner Pet from stores, issues refunds
Olivia Richman
After harsh criticism from the Fortnite community, Epic Games has removed Gunner Pet from the store. Gunner was only available for part of one day before Epic Games removed the pet from the store, as well as from the Locker of anyone who purchased him. Any player who purchased Gunner was given 1,200 V-bucks, which is 200 more V-bucks than the cost of Gunner. “We should not have released teh …
Fortnite
The latest BRUTE problem allows for massive material gathering
M Alzamora
Add another tally to Fortnite’s total of headaches induced by the B.R.U.T.E mech. Players have found that you and each member of your squad can earn a full stack of 999 bricks without breaking a sweat, and it’s all because of the controversial new mech. Hop into the B.R.U.T.E. and perform a stomp in front of a stone structure at Okyt’s Block. Doing so will instantly grant you and your …
Fortnite
Fortnite World Cup champion Bugha swatted during Twitch stream
William Davis
Fortnite World Cup champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf was swatted during a recent Twitch stream. The 16-year-old was in the middle of a match when his father informed him that law enforcement had arrived at his door. Bugha quickly realizes that he is being swatted and steps away from his setup, leaving both his teammates and audience confused over what happened. Fortunately, no one was harmed in the incident. Bugha returned …
Fortnite
Epic to adjust BRUTE spawn rates in Fortnite after complaints
M Alzamora
Epic Games recently appeared to slam the door on hopes that Fortnite’s problematic new B.R.U.T.E. mech would be addressed, but it’s now offering a potential middle ground for those who want it removed from the game entirely. Instead of scrubbing its existence clean from the isles of Fortnite, Epic has instead opted to test new spawn rates for the item in Arena and Tournament playlists, which is where pro players …
Fortnite
Fortnite Red Strike starter pack content and visuals leaked
Fariha Bhatti
A new cosmetics pack for Fortnite has been discovered by data miners. According to the newly leaked information, the collection of loot will be called Red Strike and will be packaged as a starter pack in the game. The leaked content pack was discovered by popular Fortnite leaker ShiinaBR on Twitter. First shared on August 11, that shared code reveals information on just what the the pack will include, and …
Fortnite
Former Twitch executive condemns handling of Ninja’s channel
Olivia Richman
Twitch’s former vice president of community, Justin Wong, has recently revealed his own two cents on the streaming platform’s treatment of Tyler “Ninja” Blevin’s old channel. Wong tweeted that Twitch’s decision to promote other channls on Ninja’s page brings up a long-running internal conflict at the company: Who owns the viewers, the streamer, or the platform? After working at Twitch for six years, Wong gave some insight on this situation. …
Ninja blasts Twitch for channel hijacking, Twitch apologizes
Steven Rondina
News
In a rare display of humility, Twitch is admitting it made a mistake. After multiple gaffes since the departure of popular streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear took to Twitter to issue an apology to the Fortnite star and explain why the company has been behaving strangely since he left. “Our community comes to Twitch looking for live content. To help ensure they find great, live channels we’ve …
Epic Games being sued for failing to protect its users’ privacy
Nina Forneloza
Fortnite
Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, has had a class action lawsuit filed against it by Franklin D. Azar & Associates in North Carolina. The reason for the lawsuit is the view that Epic had not done enough to protect its players’ personal data. A bug that was present in the game until January 19 was exploited by hackers to access debit and credit card details for millions of Fortnite …
Ninja phones Epic during stream to complain about Fortnite hacker
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins truly has the ear of Epic Games. The popular streamer demonstrated that during a recent Fortnite stream, where he pulled out his phone to give the company a call. The moment came after he was mowed down by an egregious hacker. While streaming on Mixer alongside duo partner Malachi “Reverse2k” Grenier, a game came to an abrupt end after both players were killed under suspicious circumstances. Instead …
Fortnite facing lawsuit after reports of accounts being hacked
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Epic Games is facing a lawsuit over the developer’s alleged failure to address Fortnite accounts’ vulnerability after some were hacked. Filed by Franklin D. Azar & Associates, the class-action lawsuit states that Fortnite users suffered “an ascertainable loss,” after hackers made fraudulent charges on their accounts. According to the law firm, Epic Games had acknowledged a flaw in Fortnite’s login system that allowed hackers to easily impersonate players, resulting in …
New Fortnite server arrives for players in the Middle East
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Fortnite is already a global phenomenon, but its reach continues to grow. Epic Games announced the opening of a new server in the Middle East, offering a better experience to players in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and India. The news came in a statement on the official Fortnite website, along with a detailed post from the company explaining what it meant for players in the region. Epic …
Fans angry as BRUTE will remain in Fortnite Championship Series
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
The Fortnite Champion Series had excited many of the game’s fans at first. But now, many competitive players are second guessing their involvement despite Epic’s announcement that there will be more than $10 million in prizing. That’s because Epic also announced that the B.R.U.T.E. will remain in comptitive play. The two-person mech was deemed overpowered at the start of Season X, and many fans were demanding that it be removed …
How much did Bugha make in the Fortnite World Cup?
William Davis
Fortnite
On July 26, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf became the first Fortnite World Cup champion. The 16-year-old player from Pennsylvania raked in $3 million for his efforts and became an overnight celebrity as a result. That eye-popping number saw Bugha rocket into the top 10 all-time esports earners, a fact that made many green with envy. But while he still banked a great deal of money at the event, he walked out …
Fortnite world champ Bugha threatens to quit over BRUTE mechs
Nina Forneloza
Fortnite
Newly crowned Fortnite Solo World Champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf has called on Epic Games to remove BRUTE mechs from the game. The BRUTE is a vehicle that requires two people to pilot and has frustrated players with its ability to kill players absurdly quickly as well as seemingly never running out of protective shields. The comments came during Bugha’s stream as he was outmatched and outgunned by a BRUTE during …
Fortnite data miners reveal Greasy Grove, Anarchy Acres, more
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s data miners leaking upcoming Fortnite events and changes. This time, data miner HYPEX has uncovered that popular points of interest including Greasy Grove and Tomato Town, will be resturning in Season X. On Twitter, the leaker revealed game files that show upcoming Battle Pass challenge descriptions. Within the challenges, Anarchy Acres, Flush Factory, Greasy Grove, Moisty Mire, Risky Reels, and Tomato …
Gen.G partners with dating app Bumble, forms all-women Fortnite team
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Fortnite
One of the esports industry’s largest organizations is branching out further, and is heading in a surprising direction. Gen.G has teamed up with women-focused dating app developer Bumble. The partnership’s first order of business is the reveal of an all-female Fortnite team, Team Bumble. “Within Gen.G and beyond, we are building a platform that reflects and enthusiastically champions the diversity of our global fan base,” Gen.G CEO Chris Park said …
Ninja reaches 1 million subscribers, already Mixer’s biggest
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has quickly become Mixer’s most popular streamer. The famous Fortnite streamer hit over 1 million subscribers on his new platform, not even a week since announcing his sudden departure from Twitch. Three days ago, Ninja had reached over 500,000 subscribers. His first streaming session on Mixer had double the number of average viewers he had been pulling on Twitch. The stream peaked with over 95,000 viewers thanks …
DrLupo temporarily banned on Mixer for impersonating himself
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Popular streamer Ben “DrLupo” Lupo was recently mistakenly banned on Microsoft’s streaming platform, Mixer. The ban was issued on August 4 and was given for the act of DrLupo impersonating an online personality: himself. The streamer attempted to log into Mixer on Sunday night with little success. Upon investigation, he found an email from the platform explaining why the account had been suspended. According to the email, he had violated …
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.
