Fortnite
Fortnite
New Fortnite update brings new pistol, ends Baller’s reign of terror
Steven Rondina
Epic Games is almost always giving Fortnite players some new toys, and the latest update for the game is keeping things fresh. The 8.11 patch has dropped in Fortnite and with it comes a number of balance tweaks and shakeups to the weapon rotation in the battle royale game mode. There’s also a number of changes made to PVE. The most obvious addition for fans is the new Flint-Knock Pistol. …
Fortnite
Epic Games publishes public roadmap of upcoming store features
Fariha Bhatti
Developer Epic Games has released a publicly available roadmap for the progress of its digital game storefront. The roadmap includes a list of upcoming features, timeframes, and other information on any critical issues that the team are working on. It was published using digital organizational tool Trello. Epic Games recently announced the roadmap on the company’s blog, providing a link to the English-language board. The main section of the board …
Fortnite
Epic Games releases new information on Fortnite Scallywag Cup
Olivia Richman
Qualifying is coming to a close for Fortnite’s $100,000 Scallywag Cup. Players who place in the top three percent in the Gauntlet Test Event will unlock this in-game tournament. The Gauntlet Test Event ranks players based on a points system, with Victory Royales being worth three points, and the potential for 10 total points per game. Each elimination is worth one point. Each match played reduces players’ score by two …
Apex Legends
Ninja and Shroud reportedly paid big by EA to stream Apex Legends
Steven Rondina
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has made a lot of money off of Apex Legends. According to Trust.org, the popular Fortnite streamer was paid “around $1 million” by Apex Legends publisher Electronic Arts to promote the game to his fans. Ninja was one of many popular Twitch personalities to play Apex Legends in the days immediately following its release, and he was not alone in receiving compensation for streaming the game. Trust.org …
Fortnite
TSM cuts Cowboy after inappropriate conduct with minor allegations
Steven Rondina
Noah “Cowboy” Cmiel is at the center of a serious controversy. The pro Fortnite player has been officially released from Team SoloMid. The move was announced by TSM on Twitter with no explanation, but it comes after allegations of the player sending inappropriate messages to an underaged streamer. Cowboy is 27 years old. A Twitch streamer using the handle “Faith” claimed that Cowboy had sent messages to a 16-year-old saying …
Fortnite
$500,000 Fortnite tournament hit by dramatic glitches
Steven Rondina
ESL One Katowice’s Fortnite event did not go smoothly. Taking place just days after the launch of the season eight update, the $500,000 tournament in Poland was mired by a variety of bugs introduced by the pirate-themed patch. During competition, several players encountered strange issues, with some losing out on valuable points as a result. The most egregious example of this was seen live when Team Heretics player Marcos “MarkiLokuras” Barragan …
News
Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass has new skins, nixes drop points
Olivia Richman
Fortnite’s Season 8 Battle Pass is full of changes and new additions, including over 100 pirate-themed cosmetics that unlock as players level up. Unlocking the Season 8 Battle Pass by completing last season’s Overtime Challenges results in the unlocking of two brand new outfits: Blackheart and Hybrid. Other notable skins include Sidewinder and Master Key. Every new skin in this season’s battle pass comes with unlockable style options that become …
Fortnite
Popular Fortnite player Tfue gets Fortnite tattoo on stream
Steven Rondina
Fortnite has left a literal mark on Turner “Tfue” Tenney. The FaZe Clan streamer and the winningest pro player in Fortnite’s history streamed himself receiving a brand new tattoo inspired by the game. Above his knee alongside an inked knifed is Jonesy, one of the game’s playable soldier characters. The tattoo pays homage to longstanding claims that Tfue shares a likeness with the character. Though this may be a stretch, …
100 Thieves signs Blind, gear up for Fortnite World Cup
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
100 Thieves has a new addition to its Fortnite roster in Maurilio “Blind” Gramajo. In an announcement on Twitter, 100 Thieves called Blind a “true competitor.” The competitive Fortnite player took home two first-place victories at Ninja Vegas 2018, and also placed in the top 10 at the Summer and Fall Skirmishes at PAX West and TwitchCon, respectively. “We absolutely can’t wait to see him back in the ring this …
Ninja to appear on TV game show Family Feud
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was recently in Los Angeles for a different kind of competition. Ninja announced on Twitter that he would be starring in an episode of Celebrity Family Feud this summer, joined by his wife and family. His fans had spent the week speculating why Ninja was in California after he sent out a few ominous tweets leading up to the reveal. Family Feud is one of …
Epic Games sues company behind Fortnite Live festival debacle
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Exciting Events has gone into liquidation after Epic Games filed a lawsuit in the wake of the company’s Norwich Fortnite Live festival. Without authorization from Epic to use the company’s intellectual properties, Exciting Events hosted a Fortnite-themed event that quickly became infamous after hundreds of attendees demanded refunds. “These proceedings by Epic Games has had a catastrophic impact on the company’s ability to trade, which has forced Exciting Events Limited …
Epic to contribute $100 million to Fortnite esports in 2019
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Epic Games is set to invest a whole lot of money into the competitive Fortnite scene. The publisher has revealed its plans for the 2019 competitive season, outlining a series of weekly events and formally announcing the Fortnite World Cup. What’s more, it revealed that there will be $100 million on the line for pro players who compete, with $30 million up for grabs at the World Cup. The build …
Ninja has lost 90% of his Twitch subscribers
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is no longer the most-subscribed broadcaster on Twitch. Over the past 10 months, Ninja has lost 90 percent of his subscribers, going from a record-breaking 263,000 to just over 26,000. He is now the 11th most-subscribed person on Twitch, falling behind such personalities as Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Felix “xQc” Lengyel. Not to be confused with followers, Twitch subscribers make a monthly payment to a …
Driftboarding comes to Fornite with patch 7.40
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite’s 7.40 content update has introduced the Driftboard as a limited time item. The Driftboard allows players to pull off a variety of stylized skateboard tricks while hovering off the ground at high speed. In an ode to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series games, the word “Wasted” appears accompanied by the sound of vinyl being scratched when players fail to land an attempted trick. While the Driftboard is also …
Ninja to launch new line of toys
Olivia Richman
Fortnite
Fortnite superstar streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has found a new way to entertain his fans away from the screen, as the famous gamer is launching a line of branded toys. The toys premiered at the New York Toy Fair. Wicked Cool Toys has created a collection of figures, plush, and even a wig, all featuring Ninja’s signature blue hair and yellow headband. One of the figures is part of a …
Free battle pass, skins, and nerfs hit Fortnite in patch 7.40
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Epic Games is showing Fortnite fans a lot of love this Valentine’s Day. The 7.40 patch has dropped with a number of surprises. In addition to the usual bug fixes and balance tweaks, Epic is giving players the opportunity to earn free skins and even a free Season 8 Battle Pass. The centerpiece of the patch is a set of 13 Overtime Challenges. Completing each challenge gives various rewards including …
Fortnite Secret Skirmish rules have pro players livid
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
The build towards Fortnite’s Secret Skirmish event has not been wholly positive. While the tournament is set to be one of the year’s biggest, featuring a $500,000 prize pool and a long list of top pro players competing, a pair of controversial rules enacted by Epic have competitors grumbling in the days leading up to the event. “The idea of traveling for two days for a forced peripheral LAN is …
Free cosmetics, ranked mode in Fortnite’s Share the Love event
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Epic is giving Fortnite players a gift for Valentine’s Day, and it isn’t a stuffed bear. From February 8 to 27 the popular battle royale will host the “Share the Love” event, celebrating the most romantic holiday of the year. Festivities will be spread across 19 days, and will offer players the chance to earn a variety of rewards. For the majority of players, the centerpiece of the event is …
Top Fortnite player released after theft accusations
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
One of Fortnite’s most successful pro players now finds himself without a sponsor. Luminosity Gaming has officially announced the release of Nate “Kreo” Kou. The news comes after a wave of controversy surrounding Kreo due to a YouTube video claiming the player was boosting, stealing and re-selling accounts. On February 7, YouTuber The Fortnite Guy posted a video discussing a 14-year-old named Noah who had evidence that he had been …
Ninja feeding the homeless becomes social media drama
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins’ had a busy Super Bowl weekend, and some of it has resulted in drama on social media. Following the big game, Ninja and his wife, Jess “JGhosty” Blevins, gathered food from their hotel to gift to the local homeless population in Atlanta. According to JGhosty on Twitter, when the couple set out, the popular streamer was shouted at by an unknown individual. While JGhosty did not delve …
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.
