The battle royale genre has morphed from a budding gameplay experience the likes of which no one had ever seen before into an oversaturated market filled with both good and bad games. It’s safe to say that there’s no shortage of battle royale games these days. Trackers for these games such as the Fortnite tracker have also popped up in recent years due to stiff competition among players. We soon saw the emergence of a new contender in the esports community. As of now, esports is still continuing to grow as a business. Especially now that we’re all stuck at home, the idea of hunkering down with a team and playing for the championship has become more appealing to those that didn’t even show any interest in gaming competitions. Before the C-word struck, Fortnite was, to be blunt, dying. While it did gain massive success in 2018 as it netted a cool $3 billion, the numbers didn’t look too hot in 2019. The game dropped down considerably to $1.9 billion. That’s still in the billion-dollar spectrum, but the fall was noticeable enough for other people to transition to other battle royale games.
But what about 2020? How does Fortnite fair today? How does it manage to keep afloat despite the presence of stiff competition?
Fortnite’s Age Demographic
In 2018, according to the Verto Watch, Fortnite was popular with players that are at the age of 18 to 24. The people who are at that age consisted of 63% of the player base. Young adults usually liked engaging gameplay that could keep them on their toes. This is when competitive battle royale games and trackers like the Fortnite tracker were starting to emerge. However, this survey did not take into account the minority or those of are under the age of 18. We think that in 2020, a majority of those who are kids and younger teens make up the player base. The winner of the first Fortnite World Cup was Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, who was just 16 when he won the title. That alone is supporting evidence that there are at the very least children and teens that play Battle Royale Fortnite.
The Secret to Staying Alive
Compared back when Fortnite was first released, there are now plenty of battle royale titles that you can choose from. Looking for a more militaristic approach to the genre? Call of Duty: Warzone is there to quench your thirst. Want to play a battle royale that has more unique characters with special abilities? Apex Legends can easily get the job done. Trying to find a game that deviates away from using guns and instead relies heavily on the fantasy theme by using spells? Spellbreak is a worthy choice. Altogether, there’s no shortage of battle royale games anymore. But how does Fortnite manage to stay relevant despite the odds?
The answer as to why Fortnite is still alive and kicking to this day is that it’s a game that has taken the role of a babysitter. Since we all know by now that Fortnite mainly consists of children and teenagers, their job is to cultivate the playspace and their minds as they reach adulthood. People that are aged 18 and above have, for the most part, moved on to greener pastures. But for players that aren’t of legal age, Fortnite has become a place where Epic can govern their social interactions and bring out the best in themselves.
What the Future Holds
2020 has thus far been a rough year for everyone, that’s for sure. Let’s face it, we all thought that this was going to be our year during the first few months before the C-word scrapped all our plans. Businesses are falling, large companies are filing for bankruptcy, and some are left to fend for themselves during these hard times. That’s not that case for Epic Games though. Ever since the virus struck, more and more people started to play video games at home as a way to keep themselves busy in the comfort of their homes. Obviously, this includes battle royale games like Fortnite. As stated by Luigi Gubitosi, the CEO of Telecom Italia, they reported a 70% increase of internet traffic over their landline network in Italy, with a big chunk of that boost coming from online games such as Fortnite. It’s currently hard to say how Fortnite will perform in 2021, but if practicing social distancing and online classes will still be a thing, then we can expect the game to do just fine.
What do you think about Fortnite? Was it your go-to battle royale game when it first came out or do you still play it to this day with a Fortnite tracker? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below!
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