If youre a fan of Fortnite or even simply aware of it - you may have seen an influx
of videos on YouTube explaining that Fortnite, the biggest game of this year and perhaps
the biggest in a while - is dying.
Its not struggling, its not losing some fans - its dying, its fatal, its done.
Is there any truth to this and more importantly, whats everyones obsession with the games state?
Im Danny Burke, lets Explain that.
Fortnite was released on September 26th 2017.
We dont have to go over how big this game is - if youre watching this, you probably
know.
But Ill say it anyway.
By Christmas 2017, the game had over 30 million players worldwide, the most recent count came
in at over 125 million.
In April 2018, Ninja broke the record for most concurrent viewers on Twitch while playing
Fortnite, coming in at 667,000 viewers.
The month before, Fornite broke the record for the most YouTube videos related to a video
game uploaded in single month - ever.
At the same time, a YouTube stream of a Fortnite battle between top spanishing speaking YouTubers
pulled in over 1.1 million concurrent views.
The numbers are just insane.
Not long after, Epic Games announced they will provide 100 million dollars to fund prize
pools for Fortnite tournaments during the coming eSports season.
This all sounds good right?
These are healthy numbers?
These dont sound like the stars of a dying game - so why are people saying it.
Why is everyone on YouTube talking about it?
Including me I guess.
Im a hypocrite.
The reason may have something to do with how Fortnite came about - its success wasnt a
slow burner - it went from unknown to the biggest game on the planet in a few short
months.
Everyone praised it as the hot new game, it was trending - and thats the problem - its
success as a game seems to be judged by how hot or trending it is, excuse me using those
words so seriously, bit cringe.
These words are associated with new things and as we head towards the one year anniversary
of Fortnites release, can it still be considered new?
If not, has it lost some of the appeal that helped it grow?
Of course, hype around games is always greatest at the start but eventually, the game needs
to actually be good if it doesnt want to lose its core fan base.
So, is it good?
Well, it depends who you ask - and when.
Like many online games these days - Fortnite has regular patches, things are buffed or
nerfed, the meta changes - it happens.
Some people dont like the current state of Fortnite, they say thats why the game is dying
- heres what Ninja had to say about that.
Are people right though?
Has the game changed for worse since its release?
Many people have expressed their concern with the nerfs to shotguns - the buffs to SMGs
- and how building has changed.
Building is an aspect of the game that makes it stand out compared to the other Battle
Royale games on the market - its an important feature.
When the game was released, it also quickly became clear that it took a lot of skill to
get good at building.
A good builder was able to outplay someone who didnt build - it was hard - but the payoff
was huge.
This drew many skilled players to the game and gave new players something to aspire towards,
skilled streamers they could look up to.
The problem is though - sometimes people can be put off before they even pick up the game.
I felt a bit like that.
I was so impressed at the skill of the top builders in the game but found it slightly
intimidating at just how essential it is to be good.
I think its great that there is this skill gap that you have to work to close - but I
understand why some new players might get putt off.
Hardscore fans might say OK, screw em.
Thats fair - but thats obviously not what Epic Games thinks - they want new players
- and it was Building that took the hit.
They almost halved the amount of materials players get from llamas and floot loot in
half - oh theres less materials to build with - also, everyone is now building or at least
trying to by this point which means oh - even less materials to build with.
In this sense, many argue that building - the one skill gap feature that gave players something
to pride themselves on - has all but vanished.
But wait, I hear you ask, doesnt shooting take skill?
Of course, its a shooting game - it doesnt matter how well you build if you dont know
your barrel from your trigger.
The problem is Bloom.
Bloom is a feature in Fortnite which means your shots have a random chance for the bullets
to go off in slightly different directions even if you dont move your aim.
It adds an element of randomness to shooting that some players really dont like at all.
Many others simply dont mind it - but this brings me to my next point - the future of
Fortnite.
If you look at the most watched games on Twitch right now - some of them have been around
for years - League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO, one thing they all have in common is being
an eSport - a proper eSport with worldwide tournaments, franchised leagues, players on
teams with actual salaries.
That seems to be the way that online game weather the storm and dont become fads.
Is that how Fortnite survives not being the hot new thing one day?
Well, we talked about the money that Epic Games are injecting into the Fortnite tournament
scene.
That might be good news - but it didnt start well.
In July 2018, Fortnite had its first official tournament - Summer Skirmish.
Many people felt it didnt go too well.
There were serious lag issues, anti competetive rules that seemed to put a damper on the whole
thing.
In comparison, Drama Alerts Keemstar organised a much better received tournament with UMG
Gaming.
It was an embarrassing blow for Epic Games - if they cant run a successful first tournament
for their own game, do they have what it takes to become an eSport?
Or maybe Im way off the mark, maybe theyre destined to stay exactly as they are - a fun,
flashy, battle royale game that exceeded all expectations.
Maybe theyve already taken into account the drop in players that will inevitably come
when the next hot new game comes along - maybe theyre fine with that and its just the community
that is expecting an end to Fortnite as big as its beginning - I think thats why people
say Fortnite is dying, and people always will.
At the end of the day, its all speculation, and its very subjective - it depends what
you call dead.
Some say my tone of voice is dead, others say Ive nailed a dry yet informative way of
speaking that is pleasing on the ears - your potential words, not mine.
I hope you enjoyed this first episode of Explained, hopefully Ive shed some light on wether or
not Fortnite is dying, what it can do to in the future and why everyone is so obsessed
with the question in the first place.
What do you want next on Explained?
Let me know, we take your suggestions very seriously - this is my serious face, see,
very serious - thanks for watching guys, my name is Danny Burke and Ill see you all in
the next video!
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