How Fortnite became one of the most influential titles of this generation

While the precise origins of this phrase are lost to time, regardless of language, it’s a phrase universally understood. A badge of honour, to be the sole contestant remaining in a contest where all others have fallen. But today this phrase has taken on a brand new meaning, specifically in video games. So let’s take a look back at the history of the battle royale genre, and discuss how Fortnite has left a lasting legacy on the landscape of gaming.

If you’re a fan of wrestling, you probably already know a bit about this. The term “battle royale” is derived from the english term “Battle Royal”.

Battle Royals were a type of combat sporting competition dating back to 18th century London. A free-for-all melee consisting of more than two combatants, with one person emerging the victor. But it wasn’t until 300 years later that the term “battle royale” would find itself in pop culture lexicon. Battle Royale (2000) is a film directed by Kinji Fukasaku based on the 1999 novel by Koushun Takami. The film depicts a group of junior high students forced to fight to the death by a totalitarian government. While it didn’t break any box office records Battle Royale became a cultural phenomenon, inspiring a genre of films and video games.

Contrary to the recent popularity of titles such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, the battle royale concept is not entirely new to video games. As Ian Higton wrote for Eurogamer, for many — the first battle royale they experienced wasn’t even from this century.

Super Bomberman was the first video game in the Bomberman series released for the Super NES back in 1993. It was also the first four-player game to be released on the Super NES. One of the very first iterations of battle royale was the battle mode in Super Bomberman. Played by one to four players, either human or computer controlled, the goal is simple — be the last remaining player. At the beginning of the game players are sectioned off into individual corners of the map, on level footing with no advantages. The start of the game is characterized by a scramble for power-ups in an effort to increase the effectiveness by which you can eliminate other players. As the game progresses, the map continues to get smaller, reducing the area that players have available to them. Sound familiar?

While Super Bomberman’s battle mode was one of the first iterations of the battle royale formula, it wouldn’t be over a couple decades later that battle royale would become a gaming phenomenon.

Fast forward to 2017.

There’s a new genre of game making a lot of noise. The battle royale. The sudden popularity being spearheaded by one title, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. As the popularity of the game grew, so did the demand for it to be available on new platforms. At E32017, PUBG announced its intention to move into the console market with a limited time exclusivity deal with Microsoft.

With any popular product imitators are soon to follow. Gaming is no exception. Doom, Halo, Call of Duty, and now PUBG, genre defining titles that would inspire their fair share of copycats in one form or another.

A few months following E3 a new player would enter the arena, Fortnite. Originally billed as a third-person shooter focused on PvE co-op combat, the developers at Epic Games saw an opportunity to capitalize on the battle royale hype. PUBG was slated to release as a part of the Xbox preview program in December of 2017. Capitalizing on the battle royale buzz, Fortnite Battle Royale released in September.

This gave the developers at Epic the opportunity to be the first major battle royale on the console market, and grow as a product well before the release of PUBG. By the time PUBG was on console, it was too late. Fortnite’s popularity had exploded. It was reaching an audience on Playstation that PUBG would have to wait a year to reach. It was refined, different, and most importantly, it was free.

It wouldn’t be until Fortnite’s season 2 update that the game would really hit its stride. Season 2 saw the inclusion of an in-game store that would be updated daily, with balance updates as frequent as every other week. The game was charting new waters in the console space. A stream of content refreshing this frequently was unheard of on console at the time. But how is Fortnite able to reach such a high volume of updates?

Well technically it’s a beta. But you’d never think so considering how robust the game is. Fortnite is only a beta technically speaking. On console its relatively costly to update a title, that’s why most games are often updated once a month. However, betas can be updated for far less, with looser regulations.

But this stream of content came at a cost, the crunch. In April of 2019, a report from Polygon detailed the how the developers of Fortnite suffer through a state of constant crunch to keep the flow of content going. Speaking with 12 current and former employees, Polygon reported that developers would regularly work 70 hour work weeks to keep the game on track. While crunch is a prevalent issue in the games industry, Fortnite was certainly taking this to a whole new level.

It’s a game that would go on to generate a ridiculous amount of popularity in the streaming community for video games, making stars out of personalities like Ninja. Fortnite also became the first title to enable cross-play between the Xbox One and Playstation 4, opening the door for games like Rocket League and Modern Warfare. Oh, and back in March of 2019 the game hit 250 million registered users. These are monumental achievements and they’re definitely a part of Fortnite’s legacy. But often overlooked is how Fortnite rewrote the playbook on monetization when gaming needed it most.

2017 wasn’t just a watershed moment in the history of the battle royale genre, but micro transactions as well.

EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II might be most remembered for the controversy surrounding the game, rather than the merits of the game itself. When the review embargo lifted the game was heavily scrutinized for its monetization practices. Specifically relating to the use of loot boxes and their prominent integration into the game’s core progression systems.

Eventually the outcry became so loud that even mainstream media outlets began covering the news. The main criticisms of loot boxes are that people are paying money for something of an unspecified value, similar to gambling. Additionally integrating a loot box system so prominently in the core progression of Battlefront II meant that the game was essentially pay to win.

This heightened level of attention prompted the first of many investigations into loot boxes and the link of gambling to gaming. The backlash became so severe, the game would go on to release without any in game purchases available at launch. It wasn’t until April 2018 that they’d return in a less obtrusive manner. But by that point it was too late — the loot box economy had taken a significant blow.

The Battlefront II controversy shook gaming to its core. With increased scrutiny regarding loot boxes in gaming, games would have to find another way.

December 2017. Coincidentally, this is where the battle pass comes in. For those who may be unfamiliar, the battle pass is an in game purchase that players can play level up to earn cosmetics, emotes, and in-game currency. Essentially, it’s paying for the ability to level up and unlock in game items. The idea might sound absurd when framed in that manner, but the purchase of the battle pass is entirely optional. All items in the battle pass have no impact on gameplay, and the battle pass gives the more invested players something to progress towards while they play the game.

Remember how I said loot boxes were adjacent to gambling because you were paying for the chance to receive something of value? The battle pass removes the random element entirely. The game states in explicit terms what players will receive for their purchase. In titles like FIFA, specifically the Ultimate Team game mode, loot box mechanics are an integral part of progression within the game. The Fortnite battle pass has no impact on gameplay whatsoever. So in some ways, Epic appears to be responding directly to the problems presented by loot boxes. Whether or not that was the intent is debatable.

While loot boxes were the gold standard for in-game monetization for much of the past decade, the battle pass might very well mark a new age for micro transactions in gaming. According to Nielsen’s SuperData Research Division, Fortnite made $2.4B in 2018, the most digital revenue of any single title in history. Of course other publishers and developers took note.

FIFA, Rainbow Six: Siege, Red Dead Redemption, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare are some of the biggest titles in gaming. All of them have adopted Fortnite’s battle pass system in one iteration or another. Modern Warfare (2019) marked the first time this generation that Activision would forego loot boxes in a Call of Duty game, and it’s a decision that appears to have paid dividends. Modern Warfare micro-transaction sales grew by a double-digital percentage over Black Ops 4 with the introduction of the battle pass.

Will battle passes be around forever? No, certainly not. As the commercial side of gaming continues to evolve, there will be new monetization methods that emerge. But for the foreseeable future you’ll probably find more and more battle passes in your favourite games, and you can thank Fortnite for that.

I doubt many would’ve guessed this is where we’d be when the console generation began. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no denying what the success of Fortnite could mean for gaming as a whole. From the staggering number of registered players, to the state of constant crunch, and innovating in the micro-transaction space, Fortnite has left a lasting impression on the gaming industry. For better or worse, there’s no denying that Fortnite is one of this generation’s most influential titles.

Thanks for reading.

Related posts:

BUY K2 POWDER ONLINE. “K2 LIQUID SPRAY” is published by Larrymedium.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) have taken the investing world by storm, and investors have piled into them to take advantage of the opportunities that they provide. All told, investors have put about…