Fortnite
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 …
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, …
Fortnite
Ninja competes in $19,000 game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for charity
Olivia Richman
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 …
Fortnite
H1ghSky1 apologizes for lying about age for streaming and signing
William Davis
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 …
Fortnite
Epic Games talks Fortnite esports and tournaments in new AMA
Steven Rondina
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 …
Fortnite
NICKMERCS to join FaZe Clan amidst ongoing contract drama at FaZe
William Davis
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 …
Fortnite
Tfue denies FaZe Clan claims that he wants to start his own team
Steven Rondina
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. …
Fortnite
FaZe Clan reportedly lied about the age of young Fortnite star
Steven Rondina
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 …
FaZe Clan fires back at Tfue, says he refused to make a new deal
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
FaZe Clan is starting its counter-offensive against Turner “Tfue” Tenney. The organization has mobilized across social media to push back against Tfue’s claims of an exploitative contract. In a two-pronged attack, FaZe CEO Lee Trink spoke with DramaAlert on YouTube and made strong claims against Tfue and his family, while the organization also discussed some of the contentious issues that have arisen regarding its relationship with the streamer and Fortnite …
Fortnite Ballers are back in Arena and players are not happy
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Vehicles are back in Arena just in time for the Fortnite World Cup Qualifiers this weekend, and many players are not happy. “Hey y’all. We have fixed the issue with players getting stuck inside vehicles in the latest update,” Fortnite announced on Reddit. Vehicles, like the controversial Baller, were first removed from the battle royale’s competitive modes thanks to some game-breaking bugs. Competitors who entered the vehicles would find themselves …
Friday Fornite returns with Keemstar through backing of FaZe Clan
Fariha Bhatti
Fortnite
Daniel “Keemstar” Keem has announced that his popular Friday Fortnite tournament will return next week thanks to funding from FaZe Clan. Keemstar revealed that there will be at least three new weeks of Friday Fortnite, with the first tournament taking place on May 31. The other two are expected to follow on June 7 and 14, although this has yet to be confirmed. Keemstar himself will be broadcasting the competitions. …
Tfue uses #ReleaseTheContract to goad FaZe Clan to show contract
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
After a tumultuous two days, Turner “Tfue” Tenney made an impassioned plea to FaZe Clan. The Fortnite esports star and popular streamer released a short video on his YouTube channel asking FaZe to make his contract public. He also repackaged his arguments against FaZe, and split from some of the claims made in the court filings. The video starts with Tfue retracting his lawyer’s claims that he had been pressured …
Fortnite teams up with Jordan brand for new Downtown Drop LTM
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite’s latest collaboration is a bit different for the insanely popular battle royale. Season 9 brought Fortnite players John Wick-inspired skins, map locations, and challenges. Before that, there was the Avengers: Endgame crossover, complete with a Thanos-themed battle royale with Infinity Stone power-ups. But this time, Fortnite isn’t teaming up with a blockbuster movie or a superhero. This time, Epic’s insanely successful title is teaming up with Jordan, the world’s …
First sale at Epic Games store botched, users locked for buying games
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Epic Games is not making it easy for new users of its storefront to give the company money. The company’s Epic Games Store ran one of its first “mega sale” events, giving gamers the opportunity to stock up on games at a steep discount. The problem? If players bought too many games at once, they immediately had their accounts frozen. The issue was discussed by a number of users on …
Report says Twitch streamers earn $50K per hour for paid streams
gabhernandez
Fortnite
The Wall Street Journal reports that top streamers on Twitch are earning $50,000 or more per hour for streaming new video games. Industry sources told Kotaku that the $50,000 price tag was not even the highest they had seen. Big name publishers are paying top dollar to well known Twitch streamers in order to boost their new game sales. Marketing strategies are changing for video game publishers who are carrying …
Ninja takes out Tfue in Fortnite World Cup qualifiers, then loses
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins got a bit of a moral victory when playing in the Fortnite World Cup duos qualifiers. During the latest week of events, Ninja and his partner Malachi “Reverse2k” Greiner scored a huge kill at the expense of none other than Turner “Tfue” Tenney. Ninja and Reverse2k were not streaming their run in the qualifiers this week. While attempting to snipe another enemy from a distance in an …
Tfue suing FaZe Clan for exploitative contract and lost sponsors
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Turner “Tfue” Tenney is taking FaZe Clan to court. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the popular Fortnite player is stating his team has engaged in exploitative, dangerous, and unlawful practices with himself, and a number of his constituents. Among the allegations are loss of sponsorship opportunities and failure to pay his share of earnings. “That Gamer Agreement is grossly oppressive, onerous, and one-sided,” writes attorney Bryan Freedman of Freedman and …
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.
