Fortnite. A game we all know and love.
Well, that’s debatable. But regardless of whether
you’re hooked to it and
just can’t stop
playing, or you aren’t a big fan of the game, you
have to accept that it’s one of the most popular online Battle Royale
games on the planet. Fortnite has the uncanny ability to break records left,
right, and center, and recently, the game has excellently asserted its dominance.
Epic Games has just announced that Fortnite’s
player count has surpassed 350 million registered players!
In April itself, players collectively spent over 3.2 billion hours in the game. “Fortnite now has over 350 million registered players! In April, players spent over 3.2 billion hours in-game,” the company said in an official tweet. However, this isn’t the only playership record that the game completely shattered in the last few months. It also achieved a new attendance record during the “Astronomical” concert with Travis Scott in April, during which he even released a new track (“The Scotts” ft. Kid Cudi). During the virtual in-game shows, Epic Games recorded the presence of 12.3 million players connected simultaneously!
These record-breaking numbers are no surprise at all, if you have been following Fortnite for just a short while now. It generated humongous amounts of publicity upon release, dominating awards shows and being hailed as one of the best online games of its time. Soon, though, the game began to slightly “die out”, as it exited the scope of the mainstream media and didn’t have much of anything new to present to players. Yet in recent times, Fortnite has once again risen to the top of the food chain, with an immense media and online presence. This is due to numerous factors. One of the largest factors is the lockdown that has been implemented due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With people stuck at home with nothing to do and few ways to connect with their peers, Fortnite offers a virtual environment that is not only enjoyable, but gives you the chance to connect with your friends and game with them while chatting with them in real-time! Hence, the game is a preferable past-time.
Another factor is the fact that Epic has been boosting the game with new updates and modes, one of which is the new Party Royale mode. In this mode, the player doesn’t have to fight anyone, but simply has to enjoy themselves and participate in entertaining activities and mini-games with others. This Party Royale mode also consists of numerous concerts and events, with celebrities like Diplo performing live. Additionally, Fortnite is now available on the Google Play Store as well. Earlier, they offered a direct download of the game through the Epic Games website, but didn’t put the game on any official Android channel to avoid the 30% fee that they were charged from all in-app purchases. However, Epic recognized that Android systems but third-party downloads at a severe disadvantage, and put Fortnite on the official Play Store just in time for quarantine, offering the game to a whole new segment of people who are more than eager to play! Thankfully, all of these factors have worked together to benefit Epic by not only increasing player counts and profits, but also by making Fortnite relevant again!
