Fortnite makes a lot of money. Thanks to its ever-increasing number of players and the introduction of major new updates such as the upcoming Season 6, it’s a bank-rolling success. However, despite its popularity, the average player still likely doesn’t know a whole lot about its road to development, who made it, and what made it so popular. So how much money does Fortnite make?
Who Made Fortnite?
The publisher and developer of the bank-rolling battle royale is Epic Games. It was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, which later became Epic MegaGames in 1992. The company only used the name Epic Games beginning in 1999. It was then that it started becoming a force to be reckoned within the games industry, releasing iconic titles like Unreal Tournament and the Gears of War franchise.
Epic Games finally became a household name among gamers when it launched its blockbuster game in 2017. However, it didn’t start as a battle royale game, unlike its current rivals PUBG. It initially launched as a paid game with no battle royale mode at all.
How Much Money Does Fortnite Make?
Fortnite Battle Royale is a free-to-play game, even though the base game — a co-op, fort-building shooter — is a retail release. This means that downloads of its standalone battle royale mode don’t actually bag Epic Games any money, regardless of its absurd level of popularity.
So how does it make money? The game’s profits are actually divided into a few revenue streams, mostly revolving around its in-game currency, V-Bucks:
- Battle Pass. Purchasing the Battle Pass allows players to level up and unlock rewards by way of completing various challenges.
- Cosmetics. Individual cosmetic items that don’t affect gameplay can be purchased using V-Bucks.
- Twitch. Epic Games has a Twitch Prime deal with the livestreaming service that it signed for an undisclosed fee.
How Much Has it Made So Far?
The free-to-play Fortnite Battle Royale has passed the $1 billion mark by way of in-app purchases, with it reaching this milestone back in July. In May it recorded its highest recorded monthly sales ever, raking in a staggering $318 million.
Epic Games’ success with its battle royale mode would have also carried its PvE Fortnite: Save the World game to greater sales. The paid version of Fortnite, Save the World, reached over 1 million players back in December 2017, so it’s imaginable that this number has risen greatly in accordance with the success of Fortnite Battle Royale.
When Was Fortnite Made?
Fortnite began gaining traction as an idea for development during a game jam (or brainstorming session) after the release of 2011’s Gears of War 3. The developer wanted to fuse construction gameplay elements like that from Minecraft, with shooter games. During its long stint in development, Fortnite started receiving the changes that contributed to what it is today, including using Unreal Engine 4 over the older Unreal Engine 3 and choosing to commit to a more cartoonish art style.
The game was also the developer’s first foray into the games-as-a-service model, with Chinese games giant Tencent assisting in its development. As surprising as it may be, Fortnite Battle Royale was only developed in merely two months, and it finally launched in September 2017.
How Many People Play Fortnite?
Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of players currently enjoying Epic Games’ battle royale. In June, Epic games revealed that the game had over 125 million players across all platforms. In August, the game achieved its largest number of monthly players, with nearly 81 million players logging in worldwide. It was previously reported that it achieved a monthly average of 40 million players, so its popularity has grown immensely even in recent months.
Why is Fortnite So Popular?
There could be many reasons why Fortnite has turned out to be so popular in the span of less than a year. Its rival PUBG may have jump-started the battle royale phenomenon, but Fortnite has proved to be more popular time and again. The first reason is that Fortnite Battle Royale adopted free-to-play, pulling in a larger demographic of potential players compared to PUBG’s paid model.
Another reason could be that the game’s cartoonish visual style, which requires less powerful hardware to run for those on PC, appeals to many younger gamers. Frequent releases of various cosmetic items like skins and unique items are also another major reason why everyone is flocking to the battle royale game.
