The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s driving ‘Fortnite’ mania?
When the University of Maryland-Baltimore County basketball team pulled off the greatest upset in NCAA history, player Nolan Gerrity had the perfect metaphor for what he was feeling.
“It’s like your first ‘Fortnite’ victory, honestly,” he told reporters.
For those out of the know, it was a puzzling statement. But Gerrity’s example made perfect sense to the 150 million people worldwide who have propelled the video game “Fortnite” into an international obsession this year.
“Fortnite” has been described as a cross between “Minecraft” and a shooter game. Survival is the name of the game. Players fight one another, making it through a night of zombies, or surviving to the end of a massive battle, and they use the landscape around them to find materials to build shelters.
The game launched in July as a console and PC game, but the “Fortnite” franchise has steadily picked up steam as it added new playing modes. Its most buzzedabout mode is the “battle royale,” a free, massive 100-person fight to the death that only allows one survivor. That mode was released as a stand-alone game in September.
That mode has helped shape “Fortnite” into a phenomenon. It’s become the most-watched game on Twitch, the Amazon.com owned site centered on streaming games, and on YouTube Gaming. According to gaming data firm Newzoo, “Fortnite” alone made up 12.8 percent of all traffic to those platforms in February. The “Fortnite” iOS mobile app, which launched in March, climbed to the top of charts in the United States and a dozen other countries within 12 hours of its release, according to app analytics firm App Annie. The Android app is on its way.
The hype hit a fever pitch when hip-hop star Drake dropped into a session with “Ninja” (a.k.a.
Tyler Blevins), a professional gamer and streaming star, on March 14. The two drew a record-breaking 628,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch.
It’s been a great “crossover” moment for the gaming world into the mainstream, with analysts comparing it to other big titles such as 2004’s “World of Warcraft” and 2009’s “Minecraft” that sparked a frenzy outside of the core gaming world.
“It’s not just the biggest game of the year, it’s the first game we’ve seen since ‘Minecraft’ that’s had this kind of appeal,” said Mat Piscatella, an analyst at NPD Reasearch who closely tracks the game industry. “The upside potential is astronomical.”
Gaming itself has become more mainstream, with industry estimates saying 65 percent of American households have at least one person who plays games for three hours per week. But it’s rare to see a single game take hold of the conversation in the way that “Fortnite” has, analysts said.
The appeal of “Fortnite” as a franchise is threefold, analysts said. For one, it’s free to play, giving it an edge over similar games such as “Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds.” “PUBG” was the first to popularize the battle royale genre. But it asks players to pay before they play, whereas “Fortnite” is free to download and makes its money from selling in-game items.
Another aspect of the success of “Fortnite” is the way it has found traction on social media. The game’s developer, Epic Games, peppers “Fortnite” with cultural references — characters can do a dance from the 2000s TV show “Scrubs” — and has kept releasing new cosmetic updates and twists.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s a high-quality game, which can be rare among free titles. It’s fun and simple. The “Fortnite Battle Royale” last man standing format is easy to understand at a glance. Forming a strategy is smart but not a prerequisite for victory. Its cartoonish graphics make its violence easier to stomach, analysts said. All of that makes it the perfect title at a time when games are increasingly trying to tap into the market for new players through streaming.
“The design is important,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures. “It captures a balance, where a novice can be entertained rather than confused.”