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Fornite 9.30 brings back Pump Shotgun, begins 14 Days of Summer Fortnite Fornite 9.30 brings back Pump Shotgun, begins 14 Days of Summer By Olivia Richman Why the Tfue and FaZe Clan contract dispute has big implications Fortnite Why the Tfue and FaZe Clan contract dispute has big implications By gabhernandez H1ghsky1 releases dreadful diss track at Fortnite esports star Tfue Fortnite H1ghsky1 releases dreadful diss track at Fortnite esports star Tfue By Steven Rondina
Luminosity Gaming opens LG Fortnite House, signs four influencers Fortnite
Luminosity Gaming opens LG Fortnite House, signs four influencers William Davis Luminosity Gaming is expanding in a big way. The Canadian organization announced the signing of four Fortnite personalities in Alex “Formula” Kushelevskiy, John “Kiwiz” Payne, Nick “Nicks” Spoerke, and Jordan “Randumb” Schneider. The players will live at the newly christened LG Fortnite House in Florida, which will both house Luminosity’s talent and serve as a content creation hub for the organization. “We are on a mission to collaborate with players, …
Ninja signs publishing deal, to release three books this year Fortnite
Ninja signs publishing deal, to release three books this year William Davis Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will be releasing three books in 2019. Ninja is taking on a new challenge this year. The popular streamer is expanding his brand with a new book publishing deal. Ninja, through his representatives at management firm Loaded, signed a deal with two Random House imprints. He will release two books with Clarkson Potter and one graphic novel with Ten Speed Press. “Ninja: Get Good” and …
FILA sponsors Counter Logic Gaming ahead of Fortnite World Cup Fortnite
FILA sponsors Counter Logic Gaming ahead of Fortnite World Cup William Davis Counter Logic Gaming has announced FILA as the apparel partner for its Fortnite squad. CLG’s Fortnite team will show up at the 2019 Fortnite World Cup with a new look. Starting in July, the players will wear apparel provided exclusively by FILA. This is the first time FILA has closed a partnership deal with an esports organization. As the industry evolves, more brands are looking to get involved and capitalize …
Airwaks and RL Grime victorious in celebrity Fortnite Pro-Am Fortnite
Airwaks and RL Grime victorious in celebrity Fortnite Pro-Am William Davis Solary player Karim “Airwaks” Benghalia and DJ RL Grime are the winners of the Fortnite Pro-Am 2019. The Summer Block Party closed on June 16 with the 2019 Celebrity Pro-Am, where Airwaks and RL Grime took the victory and the golden pickaxe. The Forum was the destination for 50 duos made up of celebrities and pro gamers who put their Fortnite skills to the test. With a $3 million prize …
Data miners uncover Stranger Things cosmetics coming to Fortnite Fortnite Data miners uncover Stranger Things cosmetics coming to Fortnite By Olivia Richman Fornite V-Buck spending spree sees kids purchase 65,000 points Fortnite Fornite V-Buck spending spree sees kids purchase 65,000 points By Nina Forneloza Fortnite 9.30 update introduces Chug Splash, sends weapons to vault Fortnite Fortnite 9.30 update introduces Chug Splash, sends weapons to vault By Olivia Richman
Deaf streamer Ewok makes big apperance at Fortnite Pro-Am event Fortnite
Deaf streamer Ewok makes big apperance at Fortnite Pro-Am event gabhernandez Deaf streamer Soliel “Ewok” Wheeler has boomed in popularity at just 13 years of age after prominent streamer Timothy “TimTheTatman” John Betar hosted her and sent her thousands of new viewers. TimTheTatman first hosted Ewok a few short months ago, when she was a small streamer who primarily played Fortnite on her channel. Since then, she’s ballooned to over 130,000 followers and is quickly becoming a well-known name in and …
Tfue lawyer fires back at FaZe Clan claims on money and negotiations Fortnite
Tfue lawyer fires back at FaZe Clan claims on money and negotiations Steven Rondina Turner “Tfue” Tenney’s legal team is pushing back against some of FaZe Clan’s key talking points regarding the Fortnite player’s contract status. Tfue’s attorney Bryan J. Freedman sat down for a lengthy interview with The Score Esports. Among the topics of conversation were direct rebuttals to claims from FaZe Clan that he had refused to negotiate on a new contract and wasn’t an important financial part of FaZe. “First of …
Fortnite 9.21 patch includes Horde Rush LTM and a grenade launcher Fortnite
Fortnite 9.21 patch includes Horde Rush LTM and a grenade launcher Olivia Richman Epic has released the 9.21 patch, and that means new weapons and new game modes for Fortnite players.  Horde Rush will be coming to Fortnite later today. Eliminate monsters with friends and find hidden score multipliers around the island. The monsters, or Fiends, will also have Fiend Spawners players can destroy that gives teams points. Meanwhile, teams must defend their designated area of the island, traveling across the map to …
Ninja struggles to keep up with pro Fortnite players on Twitch Fortnite
Ninja struggles to keep up with pro Fortnite players on Twitch Olivia Richman Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins proved his popularity when he played last week’s most-watched game of Fortnite with the help of YouTuber Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg.  But last week’s Friday Fortnite match was actually down in Twitch viewership compared to the previous week. In fact, the eight-hour stream with PewDiePie got Ninja his highest viewing numbers of the year.  Even more interesting, Esports Observer noticed that once PewDiePie left Ninja’s stream, …
Ninja competes in $19,000 game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for charity Olivia Richman Fortnite It was one of the most high stakes Rock, Paper, Scissors game in history. During a charity stream to raise money for Alzheimer’s research, Fortnite streamer Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, costing him $19,000.  The charity stream had Gotaga and Ninja paired against FaZe Jarcis and BrokeBrawks. Every match had an increasing per-kill bounty, and the player with the fewest amount …
H1ghSky1 apologizes for lying about age for streaming and signing William Davis Fortnite In his first live stream since being banned from Twitch for TOS violations, FaZe Clan’s H1ghSky1 admitted to and publicly apologized for lying to the public about his age. H1ghSky1 admitted to being 12 years old, and to having been 11 at the time of his signing with FaZe Clan. According to Twitch TOS, you have to be at least 13 years of age in order to stream on the …
Young Fortnite star h1ghsky1 is shut down on Twitch after age reveal Steven Rondina Fortnite H1ghsky1 appears to have been banned from streaming on Twitch. The popular Fortnite streamer’s channel has been shut down, with all videos disappearing and his page yielding nothing but an error message. The vanishing act comes days after reports circulated that his parents and sponsor lied about his age. H1ghsky1 garnered attention as one of the youngest esports talents ever seen, placing highly in Fortnite tournaments and receiving a major …
T1 Entertainment and Sports sign three-man American Fortnite team William Davis Fortnite T1 Entertainment and Sports has formally introduced its North American Fortnite roster with a series of new videos. Alex “Sofa” Kolich, Cody “Fulmer” Fulmer, and Ami-El “Persecute” Adams are the three new members of the T1 franchise family. Fulmer and Sofa were previously announced to be joining the new team, and Persecute stands as the latest addition to the squad. The trio is now based in a team house in …
XXiF qualifies for Fortnite World Cup despite getting caught cheating Olivia Richman Fortnite One of the recent players to qualify for the World Cup has only caused even more controversy in the Fortnite community.  After returning from a 14-day ban for cheating, Damion “Rise XXiF” Cook has earned a spot in the Fortnite World Cup Finals.  XXiF and his duos partner Ronald “Ronaldo” Mach scored 91 points in yesterday’s qualifier. They are now one of three duos from the North America East region …
Epic Games talks Fortnite esports and tournaments in new AMA Steven Rondina Fortnite The team at Epic Games has started to become more open and honest about Fortnite esports. The crew behind the competitive scene for the battle royale mode did a lengthy AMA on Reddit’s Fortnite Competitive sub and fielded questions on a number of topics. The discussion bounced from topics widely discussed by professional players to the process of producing and broadcasting a competitive Fortnite tournament. The full AMA can be …
NICKMERCS to join FaZe Clan amidst ongoing contract drama at FaZe William Davis Fortnite Popular Fortnite streamer Nick “NICKMERCS” Kolcheff has signed with FaZe Clan in a surprise turn of events. The organization announced the signing via its official Twitter account. Both FaZe and NICKMERCS have had significant public disputes in the last week. FaZe Clan’s is arguably more pertinent. The long-standing esports organization may have been in violation of California labor laws when it signed alleged 11-year-old Fortnite pro h1ghsky1, as stated by …
Tfue denies FaZe Clan claims that he wants to start his own team Steven Rondina Fortnite The battle for public opinion between Turner “Tfue” Tenney and FaZe Clan is continuing on. The Fortnite esports star and popular streamer pushed back against FaZe’s claim that he is angling to create his own competing esports organization. During a talk with the Konkrete Podcast, the topic of starting his own team came up and Tfue made it clear that he has no intention of doing so. “No. Hell no. …
FaZe Clan reportedly lied about the age of young Fortnite star Steven Rondina Fortnite FaZe Clan likely has another difficult battle on its hands. According to a report by Upcomer, the supposed 13-year-old Fortnite esports star H1ghsky1 is in reality only 12 years old. If true, the report confirms allegations against the organization from fellow FaZe Clan Fortnite pro Turner “Tfue” Tenney. The report is based on archived social media posts made by the parents of H1ghsky1, which include references to their son’s age. …
Latest Fortnite update adds new weapon and takes a new approach Steven Rondina Fortnite Fortnite’s latest update is here and there are a few changes to be found. Version 9.10 has arrived and it brings a handful of changes to the game including just two notable tweaks to the battle royale mode. This pales in comparison to some other recent Fortnite updates, which begs a few questions about whether Epic Games might finally be listening to pro players. The key change in battle royale …
DrLupo calls XXiF a bot during an official Fortnite stream Olivia Richman Fortnite A lot of pros are unhappy with Damion “XXiF” Cook’s short 14-day ban for suspected cheating during the World Cup qualifers.  The two-week ban is already up for XXiF, which allowed him to take part in the World Cup Solo qualifers last weekend. But he didn’t seem to be too welcomed by some competitors. Streamer Ben “DrLupo” Lupo referred to XXiF as “a bot” during a live qualifiers match he …
Ninja watches duo partner Reverse2k qualify for Fortnite World Cup Steven Rondina Fortnite Tyler “Ninja” Blevins hasn’t punched his ticket to the Fortnite World Cup quite yet, but his duos partner just did. The latest round of Fortnite World Cup qualifiers concluded with another 20 players heading to the $30 million tournament. Included on that list were a number of notable names including Huynh “Kinstaar” Duong Huynh, T1’s Woohyeon “Arius” Seo, and Gambit Esports’ Do “Hood.J” Hwan Kim. However, the biggest name on …

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.

Fortnite transforms from base-building beginnings to battle royale

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.