Fortnite
Fortnite
PewDiePie declares war, plays Fornite for the first time
Olivia Richman
Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg is willing to do anything to protect his spot atop YouTube, even if it means doing the unthinkable. In a desperate attempt to further surpass T-Series as the channel with the most followers on YouTube, PewDiePie live streamed Fortnite on Super Bowl Sunday, garnering more than 6.8 million views. The Fortnite stream has gained PewDiePie over 340,000 new subscribers thus far. Despite pulling out the big guns, …
Fortnite
New game mode and weapons arrive with Fortnite patch
Steven Rondina
Fornite’s Season 7 is wrapping up soon, but that didn’t stop Epic Games from dropping a hefty patch. Version 7.30 of the game has launched and brings changes to Creative, Save the World, and Battle Royale. Included in the changes are a new weapon, a limited time game mode, and a host of other small tweaks. The biggest addition to 7.30 is the Chiller Grenade, a new thrown weapon that …
Fortnite
Ninja to be featured in Super Bowl ad
Olivia Richman
Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will soon be featured in a Super Bowl ad. Ninja revealed the news on Twitter, telling fans to watch out for his appearance before the halftime break. The Twitter update also included a short clip of the ad. In the sneak peak, Ninja appears to be a waiter at an NFL event, where he says “what’s up” to wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. The Steelers player …
Fortnite
Millions of Fortnite accounts exposed
William Davis
Millions of Fortnite players’ accounts were temporarily exposed due to a unexpected vulnerability. Researchers at security company Check Point discovered that a website hosted on Epic Games’ domain could be used to steal players’ authentication tokens. Once the token has been obtained for a given account, hackers could log into the account, purchase in-game currency, and even listen in on their mark’s voice chat communications. Fortunately, a user’s full credit …
Fortnite
Epic Games launches digital store to compete with Steam
William Davis
Epic Games is closing out 2018 with the release of their very own online store meant to rival the likes of Steam. The store was officially announced in an online press release on December 4. Epic directly compares the Steam store to their own by contrasting the revenue that game companies will receive from products sold between the two stores. The announcement stated that developers would earn 18-25% more revenue …
Fortnite
Fortnite account hacking is becoming big business
Steven Rondina
The Fortnite account theft business is booming, according to a new report by the BBC. The outlet tracked down a number of hackers from across Europe and posted a lengthy report on the findings on its website. That report discussed the hijacking process, the market for stolen login information, and the kind of money that can be made along the way. According to the report, the hacking community has made …
Fortnite
Fortnite at the top of YouTube’s Rewind
gabhernandez
YouTube’s Annual Rewind Video featured a lot of Fortnite among this year’s biggest video trends and viral moments. Vloggers, memers, celebrities, and viral personalities were all gathered into a video montage to celebrate the 2018 success of YouTube’s community. And popular battle royale game Fortnite was very prominent. Fortnite was developed and introduced by Epic Games in 2017. Since then, its player base has grown rapidly. Epic’s creative take on …
Fortnite
Hacker interrupts Ninja charity stream with racist insults
Steven Rondina
A Black Friday charity live stream held by Fortnite star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins took an unfortunate turn. During Ninja’s broadcast in support of Ellen Degerenes’ charity The Ellen Fund, Ninja was seemingly joined on-air by famous rapper Drake, with the two partying up and playing a duo game. Shortly into the match, however, Ninja’s teammate began shouting racial epithets over voice chat in what was likely a result of account …
NFL jerseys come to Fortnite
William Davis
Fortnite
The National Football League is teaming up with Epic Games to bring NFL jerseys to Fortnite. Fortnite is the fastest growing online game in terms of both player base and popularity. Many have taken notice of the game’s massive audience and have worked to capitalize on it by collaborating with developer Epic Games. These partners include big names such as Hasbro, Samsung, and Disney’s Marvel Studios. Now the National Football …
V-Buck Generator scams plague Fortnite
William Davis
Fortnite
Reports of Fortnite scams are growing as quickly as the game’s popularity. Fortnite is currently the one of the most popular game across the globe with over 78 million active monthly players and counting. The game functions on a free-to-play model, but players can purchase an in-game currency called V-Bucks which can then be used unlock an array of cosmetics. These costumes and accessories can cost up to $20 in …
Tfue and Cloak win the Fortnite Fall Skirmish for FaZe Clan
William Davis
Fortnite
Turner “Tfue” Tenney and Dennis “Cloakzy” Lepore are the new Fortnite Fall Skirmish champions. The duo representing FaZe Clan came on top in the final stage of a competition celebrated at TwitchCon in San Jose, California. After an intense weekend of games, Tfue and Cloakzy came on top of the competition with 28 eliminations and 17 points accrued. The FaZe Clan duo took home the title and the accompanying $400,000 …
Cube Monsters Invade Fortnite’s Battle Royal
William Davis
Fortnite
Epic Games is celebrating the Halloween season by unleashing hordes of the undead upon unsuspecting players. Patch 6.20 has added another holiday themed game mode appropriately titled “Fortnitemares.” In this mode, players must fight against other survivors while also fending off waves of undead AI called “cube monsters.” These monsters come in two types. The more common and less durable variant are known as fiends. The second are the brutes, …
Fortnite streaming star Ninja is headed to the Ellen Show
Steven Rondina
Fortnite
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the most visible figure in the esports industry, and that was on full display during Ninja’s appearance on popular talk show Ellen. The Fortnite player swung by the show to chat with host and comedian Ellen Degeneres about the popular game, streaming, and life. The segment was watched by tens of millions at home, and has drawn millions of more views on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1VuZ2FdQhM There weren’t …
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.
