Why Fortnite Battle Royale is So Popular

In the fall of last year, Epic Games released the early access to the game Fortnite, a game in which you could play in a battle royale by yourself, in duos, or in a squad of three or four. The game puts you on a large map of 100 people, in which you or your squad must outlast everybody, while a storm chases you into a shrunken map and forces you into action. This early access mode would become a massive hit and turn into one of the best games I can remember. I hopped on The Fortnite battle bus about a few months ago, I talk about it and play it with my friends very often. A question that comes up frequently though, why is Fortnite so popular? It's free The first and probably the biggest reason Fortnite Battle Royale is so popular is that it’s free. You see, this game mode is original and revolutionary, except Fortnite wasn’t the first game to hold such a mode. Player Unknown Battlegrounds aka PUBG was the first to come up with the game mode, but you had to pay 30 dollars for PUBG. In fact, the two games are so much like each other Epic may be facing a lawsuit from Bluehole, the creators of PUBG, for holding so much similarity. Epic saw how well PUBG was doing on one console, they decided to create that same game mode in their early access mode, in the hope it would lead others to buy the full game. Although I’m sure it has led a few people to play the full Fortnite game, people are 100% content on just playing the early access. Then the question arises, how does Epic get money from so many people just getting the free early access? From the battle pass. Epic has allowed people to buy virtual currency, so people can buy skins for their characters, I probably won’t but the virtual currency for I see it to be a waste, but some people love it. So, for your average gamer who doesn’t want to drop 60 dollars on a game to play with his friends, you can get this game mode for free and connect with them through this game. It is more than just a shooter The most popular franchise that has allowed people to connect through a shooter has been Call of Duty. But, what makes Fortnite unique (more than PUBG even) is this game requires lots of strategies and requires you to build structures. Unlike Call of Duty, where really the main purpose of any game mode you play you must kill on a condensed map. Whereas in Fortnite, there’s a strategy that goes into it. Of course, you must eliminate one person to win, but there are multiple ways to get to that point. You can go the stealthy route and hide in little places here and there or you could hide in a bush, you could even build your own fort if you wanted to and stay protected in there until someone knocks it down. Then, of course, you could just go in hot into a populated area and try to rack up as many eliminations and loot as possible. Now, obviously you can’t hide the whole game, so Fortnite will force you into some action as the map shrinks to a different location every time, that way it doesn’t take and an absurd amount of time to find people and eliminate them. It’s on all platforms The biggest flaw PUBG made was it only released on XBOX and PC, but their counterpart Fortnite released on all major platforms (PS4, XBOX, and PC). Not only does this allow more traffic to their game, but it allows more people to connect with each other. For example, I’ve never played cross-platform before, but in Fortnite I’ve not only played with people on PS4, but I’ve been able to play with PC players as well, which creates a whole new gaming experience and a way for more friends to connect to each other. It Holds Innocence Without Gore At the end of the day, this is a shooter game, but what makes it reach more people is there’s no gore. Consequently, this can allow parents of kids to be more apt to let their kid get the game or if you’re an adult who just doesn’t like seeing blood all over your screen this game is perfect as well. I’m not even sure this game refers to the word “kill”, their word of choice is elimination. In a time where gun control is a hot topic, along with what video games teach to children and teens, this is a nice refreshing compromise to your typical shooter. Throw in the fact you can make your character dance, turn into a bush, be a teddy bear and even have a cupid themed crossbow as a weapon, this game can easily reach to a younger crowd as well. It’s fun Plain and simple this game is just fun. I can honestly say, I’ve never had more fun playing one single video game in my entire life. Not to be dramatic, but this game evokes such much human emotion, the thrill of getting in the top 10 and anxiousness to see if you’ll finish number one is unmatched. The deflation of tasting victory, only to get eliminated at the last moment can only be exceeded by leaving a  receiver wide open against Florida or Luke Maye hitting a last-second shot to stop us right in our tracks. Then, of course, the feeling of accomplishment and relief after finishing number one is the best feeling I’ve ever gotten while playing a video game. That, my friends, is why Fortnite is so popular.