Fortnite Battle Royale has a unique style that is so distinct it has become almost an aesthetic in its own right; with many similar games being accused of ripping off Fortnite or utilizing “Fortnite-like characters”, this phenomenon is nothing new, and previously, many titles were accused of ripping off Overwatch (and many did!) during its heyday.
Fortnite is colourful, fun, innocent and a little cheeky, and I can think of no better aesthetic for a title that enjoys an audience of all ages, from preschoolers to baby boomers and beyond.
Fortnite Battle Royale has always been a very diverse game, offering a wide selection of skin tones and style options since its earliest incarnation; this diversity has only grown as time has passed and now includes various body types, skin tones, cultures and even species.
Playing as a character you feel represents you is very important to many gamers. While I am happy to spend my days as a giant banana, not everyone will be. Being able to play as a character that represents your personality goes a long way towards sustained engagement, + it’s a win-win for everyone involved. I would love to see more developers embrace this philosophy in the future.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Fortnite Battle Royale is the first Battle Royale to offer an optional monthly subscription.
Fortnite Crew subscribers receive a monthly cosmetic set, 1000 vBucks, and access to the current season’s premium battle pass.
For most people, this subscription is not good value for money; however, for those who frequently purchase skins and vBucks, being able to subscribe for a single month at the start of a new season and receive 1000 vBucks, a skin set, access to that season’s battle pass for only £9.99 is good value for money, in addition to the currently active Rocket League Rocket Pass.
Previously, Fortnite Crew Subscribers would gain free access to Save the World; however, this promotion appears to be no longer active, indicating that EEpic may finally be on the verge of making the mode free-2-play, as it is currently the only Fortnite mode that requires a separate purchase.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Fortnite is easily accessible to a wide audience thanks to its support for all 8th and 9th-generation consoles, PCs and Android Devices.
While lower-end hardware cannot reach the visual or performance limits of higher-end consoles/PC, Fortnite allows people to play together and experience all it offers in a platform-agonistic environment.
As the first title to offer full cross-play between all major gaming platforms, it has continued to enjoy phenomenal growth, well beyond the average for the genre; in December 2020, over 15.3 million concurrent players took part in an event to defeat the evil Galactus, with over 3.4 million more watching via Twitch and YouTube.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Towards the end of Chapter 1, Fortnite Battle Royale had a serious issue, the loot pool was flooded, and the wide array of items made balancing a near-impossible task, with some items being overpowered and others barely functional in a competitive setting.
Stripping back the loot pool to a much smaller selection of items was the right choice to begin chapter 2, but ever since, Epic has continued to vault the majority of items at the end of each subsequent season; while this does help to keep gameplay fresh, it also strips away the “meme factor” that made Fortnite Battle Royale what it is.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Epic Games, despite what the loud minority cry, have always tried to appease the most vocal aspects of the community, many of whom are found on r/fortnitebr.
Please understand the “loud few” are not bad people, and they genuinely think their experiences and opinions are the only ones that matter; a prime example of this was the introduction of Fortnite Brutes, thanks to a few streamers known for being poor losers and their very vocal fan base Epic repeatedly nerfed the Brutes before disabling them all together well before the end of the season.
The problem with Brutes was not that they were hard to defeat, but rather people were told they were hard to defeat; I am far from a professional Fortnite player, but I destroyed 100s of Brutes while only being killed by them half a dozen times at most during the entire season.
I believe I have been killed more by pickaxes than Brutes, yet no one would call them overpowered or needing a nerf.
The loud minority deserve to have their opinions considered along with everyone else, but no more than anyone else, and certainly in all cases outside diversity, representation and accessibility, never over that of the majority.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
For over a year, a rumour has persisted that Epic is working on a 4th mode (alongside Save the World, Battle Royale and Creative) that will take the form of an open-world PvE survival game, similar to Rust and Ark Survival Evolved.
While Epic has neither confirmed nor denied the rumour, data miners continue to find references to it in recent Fortnite builds, including text strings and even what appears to be a massive open-world map earmarked for the mode.
With dozens of official and unofficial game modes already available for free within the Fortnite client and Creative Mode 2.0 promising to give aspiring game creators the ability to design entirely new games and modes with complex objectives and custom models, Fortnite is well poised to become the leader in the upcoming metaverse revolution. I cannot wait to see what Fortnite will evolve into as more and more control as with the launch of Creative 2.0 (Unreal Editor For Fortnite), players have more control over the future of Fortnite than ever.
On April the 28th, 2023, five of the most popular Fortnite streamers announced they would be releasing their own battle royale inside of Fortnite, tentatively dubbed Project V; it is due to release in 2024, and with the backing of major names such as Ninja, TimTheTatman, CouRage, NICKMERCS, and SypherPK it is almost certainly going to be massive.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
You can view our in-depth review of Fortnite Save the World here.
Unlike what its detractors would have you believe, the Fortnite community is nothing special, meaning it is not “full of sweaty neckbeards” or “full of toxic children” but comprises one of the most diverse gaming communities, attracting gamers of all ages and walks of life.
There are toxic elements of the community, and there are “angry squeakers”, but judging a community of over 350 million players by the actions of a small part of that community is immature and toxic in its own right.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Fortnite, for better or worse, has a consistently inconsistent narrative built upon each season; while it’s sheer madness, it is this madness that makes Fortnite so unique, and the lore doesn’t have to make sense. Pirates, spies, aliens, Jedi and superheroes all play a part in the insanity that is Fortnite and honestly, that’s just fine.
While controversial to some, the fact Fortnite can offer crossovers with so many other franchises is not only a major driving force behind the longevity and engagement of Fortnite Battle Royale but also gaming in general.
Too many games take themselves too seriously, and sometimes it’s good to engage Kratos in a dance battle with a giant banana while Master Chief looks on disapprovingly.
Epic Games has continued to amaze (and anger) many with its frequent crossovers. I cannot wait to see what comes next, especially as part of the Gaming Legends Series, which has already given us many memorable characters.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Fortnite is a battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games, it was released on 21 July 2017 and it is Free-2-Play.
Fortnite is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, XBox One, Xbox Series X|S.
No one could say that Epic Games are lazy, and that’s for certain.
Fortnite has continually received major updates for over five years, with new seasonal content dropping every 3–4 months and minor content updates occurring roughly every two weeks (excluding public holidays and summer vacation).
In addition to those moderate-sized content updates, the cosmetic store receives new items every few days, including crossovers with other franchises such as Street Fighter, Star Wars, DC Comics, Marvel, the Walking Dead, and more.
Fortnite is one of the most active multiplayer games, with a massive community of over 350 million players, yet Twitter and Reddit users continue to call it a “dead game”.
While not all Twitter and Reddit users engage in this trolling, a large enough percentage partake in these actions to ensure that both communities remain toxic towards Fortnite Battle Royale.
This toxicity is split into three main camps.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
In March 2023, Epic Games, for the first time, enabled in-game player counts for all game modes in preparation for the release of Creative 2.0 (UEFN) later that month, and let me tell you, the concurrent active user numbers are very impressive with the core battle royale mode and zero build modes peaking at around 800k and 400k respectively each day, and less popular modes such as Arena and Save the World peaking at around 120k and 70k respectively.
Official modes aside, dozens of player-made modes peak at well over 5k concurrent active users, and some modes reach as high as 100k, making them more active than many standalone games.
In conclusion, Fortnite is in phenomenal shape right now, and with many developer teams working on launching their own games within Fortnite itself, the future is brighter than ever.
Image credit Fortnite - Published and developed by Epic Games.
Fortnite supports:
Fortnite offers the following matchmaking options:
The Fortnite in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Fortnite is rated PEGI 12+ and contains the following:
Fortnite Battle Royale is one of the most influential games in history, frequently enjoying record-breaking engagement numbers; it continues to be the most active battle royale, seeing off very impressive competition by the likes of Apex Legends and Call of Duty Warzone.
While its cartoon aesthetic is not for everyone, frequent new items, mechanics, limited-time modes, and points of interest ensure Fortnite Battle Royale feels fresh well into its 6th year.
