7 thoughts on “How is Fortnite making so much money?”

1. The Fortnite vs PUBG argument is very topical and fast growing on the internet. “Battle Royale” type video games have been taken by storm in the past few years and these two games being the most recent. In late 2017 it seemed like almost every PC gamer was playing PUBG to no end, now all of a sudden many of the same players have converted to Fortnite and consider PUBG “too slow” or “boring”. Like you mentioned Fortnite is more readily available on PC, both consoles, and now iOS devices, but I believe the main reason Fortnite has captivated millions players across the world, and managed to keep them for over 4 months now, is how fast the game is being updated. Many argue that PUBG oftened seemed unfinished and still needing improvments. On the other hand, Fortnite and it’s devs are working insanely hard to keep the new content flooding in almost weekly, including an in-game “battle pass” that can be purchased in game, new skins for your character, new weapons, and updates to the map. If the Fortnite devs weren’t working as hard to keep the game fresh, a lot of people would get bored of the game and move onto the next big thing, just like what happened to PUBG. The longer you are able to keep your clients engaged, the longer your game’s lifespan will be. Also, since Fortnite is a free game, this ends up helping them in the long run. If you are playing a free game, and enjoy it and invest hours into playing it, many will feel the need to support the developers and employees at Epic Games and compensate by purchasing in game items. And when you are always adding more in-game purchases, there will always be something for people to buy to keep the game fresh. In conclusion, Epic Games made a great game at the right time, and that is what allowed them to pick up so many valuable costumers and keep them.

   Source: https://www.gamingscan.com/fortnite-vs-pubg/

2. Fortnite, a video game developed by Epic Games, is quickly taking over the gaming world largely due its business model and several in-game features. In February, Fortnite generated $126 million in revenue, eclipsing its closest competition Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds ($103 million). Fortnite and Playunknown’s Battleground are very similar conceptually (battle royal gaming mode), yet Fortnite is far more popular. First off, Fortnite is free-to-play which may be why it gained popularity so quickly. Players are able to play the entire game without spending a penny unlike Playunknown’s Battlegrounds which requires players to pay from the beginning. Fortnite also generates most of its revenue on in-app purchases (character skins, backpacks, gliders or parachutes, and emotes or dances) unlike Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds which generates most of its revenues on a one-time purchase for the software to physically play the game. Fortnite release new in-app purchases daily to keep the shop fresh with new gear and emotes for players to buy. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds also allows players to purchase in-app skins, but struggle to generate as much revenue as Fortnite does off of them. When Fortnite was first released, it launched on all of the gaming platforms (PC, Xbox, and PlayStation) which may another reason why it gained popularity lightning fast. Fortnite recently released a mobile version of the game available on iOS devices. This allows players who do not own a console or pc, which tend to be very expensive, to play the game. In my opinion, Fortnite is more fun and easier to learn. I struggled to pick up Playerunknown’s Battleground and went straight back to playing Fortnite. All of my roommates play Fortnite and agree it’s an overall better game because of these features.

   https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/21/17148918/fortnite-battle-royale-pubg-monthly-revenue-sales-126-million-superdata-resea

3. Being someone who plays both Fortnite and PUBG on both console and pc, i think fortnite is more appealing to most people because it is a much more casual game. it is much easier to pick up fortnite and get good at it than it is to on PUBG. Another reason for the success of fortnite is the almost weekly updates that include brand new content. The constant new content allows for the game to evolve and allows players to have new experiences which is something PUBG has failed to give the player base. Because of this PUBG might become stale and people may stop playing. The new weekly content has created a situation where players want to keep coming back to see what is next and they are willing to pay for the new content.
   As for the part of the post where you call for advertising, i think that advertising could do more harm than good. the game already has a massive social media and pop culture presence that i advertising might seem like it is being forced down our throats and might turn some people off.

   https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-battle-royale/2018/3/30/17177068/why-is-fortnite-popular

4. The rise that Fortnite has had is absolutely insane. As an avid gamer (from console to now PC), the growth this game has had is something I have never seen before. The funny thing to me is that there have been multiple popular games – H1Z1, then PUBG, and now Fortnite – that follow the same form of battle royale (BR) genre. However, although all of these games had their peak, none of them have come anywhere close to the exposure that Fortnite has had over the past few months. After reading your post, I also agree that the revenue that Epic Games has collected during the existence of this game is unbelievable, considering the BR portion of the game is free to play. I think a big key to the rise in their revenue has been their skins, but also the implementation of the battle pass accessory to the game. Also, the ability this game has had to reach all variety of gamers, including the casuals, has helped it become so successful. That is probably the main difference I see in this game because PUBG and H1 have really only catered to the more serious and competitive players. The Twitch streaming platform has also blown other games out of the water in comparison to the numbers that these people are pulling in with Fortnite, with popular streamers raking in an insane amount of money for both them and Epic Games. The amount of people who willingly spend $25 for new skins in the game helps Epic bring in millions of dollars, and they don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. I would love to here other people’s thoughts on what has made this game so much more successful than other games that have followed the same genres.

5. When people talk about Fortnite they seem to always forget that it was a game you paid to purchase before they released the free to play battle royale mode. Epic Games was already making money from the game through its original player versus environment game, but upon seeing the popularity of Player Unknown’s Battleground they quickly created the off-spin Fortnite Battle Royale. What this meant was they already had a user base from the original game with the added benefit of attracting new users through the new game being free. Its also important to note that it took very minimal effort to create Fortnite Battle Royale considering that Epic Games already had the engine and assets from the original Fortnite, so they had almost no production costs to recuperate unlike PUBG. So why is Fortnite Battle Royale so successful? Its free to play so users are more likely to spend smaller amounts of money on cosmetics. The game had a user base from the start because of the predecessor Fortnite, and very little development costs as a result of the previously created engine and assets.

   Source:

   https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/27/17163280/fortnite-battle-royale-save-the-world-explained

6. I think about the situation as that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has so much potential but still is not quite finished. The game is still in an early form (at least, for consoles) compared to Fortnite which is much closer to being finished (on all platforms). Other than that there are a couple of reasons that Fortnite is so much more popular. As the main blog post says PUBG has a base cost to play whereas Fortnite does not. The plays into if you want to get a nearly finished game for free or pay for a game that only really runs well on PC. Another factor is the HUD and UX design where Fortnite is much more user-friendly than PUBG. Epic Games implemented an easy to use HUD that has directions with all of the basic interactions. Even though it has so many more elements, such as breakable structures, in the physical world it is still easy to use. It is simple to pick up and play with minimal instructions plus they have labeled controls that are quick to find in the menu. PUBG cannot say the same as they made a much more complicated game. They added attachments and vehicles in a much larger world which makes it much more difficult to make it to the circle. Their controls can get quite complicated even without a building menu such as adding attachments and using medkits. PUBG provides a tutorial but only when you first open the game and the actual gameplay can be complicated. Fortnite says what damage is done to each enemy whereas PUBG does not and you have to double tap to even be able to scope. The final piece is the visuals where Fortnite still crushes PUBG. Everything in Fortnite is crisp and smooth but PUBG is going in almost the opposite direction. They went in and tried to make the game look realistic but by doing this the game has too much visual tearing and lag (on console). With all of these characteristics coming together I can clearly see why Fortnite is dominating the market at the moment.

7. There has not been a day since its release and rise to popularity that I have not heard about Fortnite. It even appears in my coursework through clicker questions, and now blog posts. I know many people who play this game religiously and have neglected games they have played previously to indulge in this one. The game has spread beyond traditional game consoles to mobile devices. Now, I cannot help but wonder how Epic Games will continue to bring in the enormous amount of revenue that they are currently. More often than not, I see apps rise, like Flappy Bird or Temple Run, to extreme popularity only to fall months later to become less popular, almost like a relic. I am curious to see how it will continue to be relevant. For example, NBA 2K and FIFA are re-released annually with new updates to match current times. I wonder if there is a way to ingrain this into fortnite. Or Call of Duty, it is re-released with different themes. Could there be a way to incorporate this into the Fortnite model that keeps the revenue high or increases the profit even more. Epic Games could also seek advertising Fortnite more as a way to increase their profit, either through apps for the game or in app advertisements. I have never seen an advertisement or commercial for this game. Creating ads for it could increase it exposure. Like shown in class, many apps, games, and websites use advertising as a main source of revenue.