Despite being a free-to-play game, Fortnite is taking the world by storm. Boasting a playerbase of 45 million players, Fortnite is undoubtedly the most popular video game at the moment. Available on all major gaming platforms (PS4, Xbox One, PC), with the latest addition of a mobile version, millions of players are joining everyday. Having a price tag of $0, Fortnite: Battle Royale appeals to gamers across the spectrum, from casual players to professional eSports players.
Player Andrew Gallegos said, “I love playing on PlayStation. I like how they added it on mobile, so now I can get more kills on the road.”
Fortnite: Battle Royale is the PvP (player versus player) part of the title, in which 100 players parachute down onto a massive island where they collect loot and weapons, battling it out until the last player is standing. To push the players to shoot it out and not camp, a “storm” closes into a certain part of the map as the match progresses, pushing them to conduct exciting and crazy battles. Despite a massive hit in 2018, Fortnite isn’t the first to use this gerne or format of gaming. Popular titles such as H1Z1 and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds also offer gameplay of a battle royale. What makes Fortnite unique is the building aspect, where players collect materials such as wood, brick, and metal with a pickaxe and built structures. With creativity and proper strategy, the building in Fortnite offers a competitive nature to the game while encouraging players to work together as the game includes 3 main game modes. Solo, where one plays by themselves, duo with a partner, or squads where you and 3 other players team up against 94.
Sophomore Gabriel Alvarado said, “Fortnite is pretty fun when I play with my friends. I personally use keyboard and mouse to have an advantage over other players on PS4.”
Recently sparking an interest in mainstream media, Fortnite was the video game of choice for popular live streamer Ninja, who played with Grammy-winning rap star Drake. The livestream broke the viewer record of the platform is was hosted on, Twitch, with a count of 635,000 Live viewers despite the stream occurring at 3 AM in the morning. Tyler Blevins, or Ninja, was recently interviewed on CNBC days after the record-breaking livestream. Ninja currently has 5 million on YouTube, 4 million followers on Amazon-owned Twitch, 1 million on both Instagram and Twitter. Blevins reportedly earns more than $500,00 per month solely off of streaming Fortnite on Twitch. Before playing the battle royale hit, Ninja played professionally in shooter games such as Halo, Destiny, and rival game PUBG.
Sophomore Roman Vespucci said, “Ninja is my favorite streamer because how entertaining he is. He’s the best player in the world, in my opinion.”
