Since its release in 2017, Fortnite has become one of the most popular games in the world. The Battle Royale game, in which up to 100 players fight it out at one time, is especially loved amongst the younger generations as **** percent of Fortnite players are aged between 18 and 24, and a further **** percent are between ** and 34.

The rise of Fortnite Having amassed over *** million registered users in just two years, it is safe to say that Fortnite is nothing short of a gaming phenomenon. The developers of the hit, Epic Games, certainly picked the right time to enter the market as revenue in the Battle Royale premium console segment amounted to *** billion U.S. dollars in 2018 and was estimated to more than double to *** billion U.S. dollars in 2019. Fortnite undoubtedly contributed to this estimated jump in revenue as the game generated *** million U.S. dollars in May 2018 alone and it also raked in considerable revenue through its mobile game. If Fortnite itself is free to play, how is it generating so much money?

In-game purchases key to success The answer is in-game purchases. Regular currency will not get you very far in the Fortnite universe, but it will give you access to V-Bucks, which will unlock everything from Fortnite outfits to celebrations (emotes) and gliders. It seems that players are spending their hard-earned money on making their Fortnite characters stand out from the crowd, with over two-thirds of Fortnite fans confessing to spending money on in-game purchases. The most popular upgrades were to the characters themselves and their outfits, whilst almost ** percent of in-game spending was on emotes, so that the victorious players could celebrate their victories in style.

Since its release in 2017, Fortnite has become one of the most popular games in the world. The Battle Royale game pits up to 100 players against each other at one time until only one player emerges victorious. Given the nature of the gaming world and of shooter games in particular, it comes as no surprise that the majority of Fortnite players are male – **** percent of the game’s players in the United States are male, in comparison to **** percent who are female.

The rise of Fortnite The meteoric rise of Fortnite can be seen no more clearly than in its registered user number. It recorded just one million users in its humble beginnings in August 2017, but this had soared to 250 million players by March 2019. The battle royale game is particularly loved by the younger generations – **** percent of users in the U.S. were aged between 18 and 24, and a further **** percent fell into the ** to ** age range. While the gameplay makes it easy to play just one game in a sitting, it seems that players are putting far more hours into their favorite game. Over ** percent of Fortnite players admitted to spending over ** hours a week playing the game and **** percent stated that they played between ** and ** hours weekly.

Fortnite raking in the revenue One of the biggest selling points of Fortnite is that it is free to play. This does not mean, however, that the developer, Epic Games, is not reaping the rewards for its hit game. Gamers can spend money on upgrades within the game for everything ranging from how their character looks to how they celebrate their victory. These in-game purchases were carried out by **** percent of Fortnite gamers in the United States, with modifications to outfits or characters being the most popular choice. As a result of these purchases, Fortnite generated revenue of *** million U.S. dollars in May 2018 alone, more than doubling the figure from February 2018.

How many people play Fortnite? After bursting onto the scene in 2017, Fortnite has since become a worldwide phenomenon, amassing 650 million players across the globe as of November 2023, up from 400 million in May 2021. Why is Fortnite so popular? The reasons Fortnite has become such a global hit are clear. Not only is the game free to play, but it is also available on most gaming platforms. On top of this, Fortnite's most popular gameplay mode is the battle royale mode, in which up to 100 players fight it at once. This means that the re-playability of the game is infinite – each game is unique. Keeping players engaged with live services Fortnite Battle Royale is also a live service game, meaning that the game receives regular content updates to keep players engaged. Each season of the game roughly lasts 10 weeks and features events such as online concerts, and cosmetic changes. The game’s current iteration is called "鬼HUNTERS (Demon HUNTERS)" with a theme around yōkai, hunters and Japanese culture. Live service games are here to stay By offering cross-platform, multiplayer gaming with a live service schedule, Fortnite covers two of the biggest gaming industry trends, which the majority of the industry intend to follow. A 2023 of global gaming studios found that more than nine in ten studios were either working on or intending to release a live services title. With regular, cadenced, and themed updates to free-to-play games, studios motivate players to keep returning and, eventually, spend not only time but also money on the game. This seems to work for the parent company Epic Games – Fortnite was one of the most downloaded PlayStation F2P game in the EU and North America in 2024.

Video gaming is no longer a hobby exclusively enjoyed by the young. As generations have grown up with video games a normal part of life, the age of the average gamer also increases. During a 2023 survey, 25 percent of video game players still come from the 27 to 42 years age demographic, and 19 percent are 59 years and older. Time spent gaming In 2023, Americans aged between 15 to 19 years spent 98.4 minutes on gaming or leisurely computer use during an average day. The age demographic which devoted the least amount of time to gaming was the 55 to 64 years category. Members of this age demographic spent an average of just 17.4 minutes playing on the computer during an average day.

A 2024 survey found that ** percent of children in the United Kingdom aged 13 to 15 years played online games such as Fortnite or Minecraft. Online gaming among children has been increasing in popularity over the recent years and made a huge jump during the COVID-19 pandemic.

First released at the start of 2017, PUBG: Battlegrounds (previously known as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) is one of the most popular games on Steam and had 944,484 peak concurrent players in the last recorded month, July 2025. The highest number of concurrent players was recorded in January 2018 at 3.24 million. One of the biggest games on Steam PUBG gained a devoted legion of fans in a short space of time after its release, and cumulative unit sales of the game hit 75 million in December 2021. The game has also been critically acclaimed — it won the Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards in 2017 and its free-to-play mobile version for Android and iOS, released in 2018, was nominated for Best Mobile Game at The 2018 Game Awards. This critical success has also translated into commercial success, as the game generated millions of U.S. dollars of revenue, most successfully in the United States. On January 12, 2022, the game has become free to play. Battle of the Battle Royale games PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is an online battle royale game in which up to 100 hundred players battle it out until there is only one player or one team left standing. This format of game has become very popular in recent years. While PUBG has a strong following, especially on Steam, it has come under pressure from rival battle royale game Fortnite. First released just several months after PUBG, Fortnite has since become a cultural phenomenon, amassing 500 million registered users in just six years. As of 2025, both PUB and Fortnite are still going strong with their loyal audiences.

Apex Legends became an instant hit on its release in February 2019. Despite the growth in players slowing down in the months after the game's initial release, Apex Legends crossed 170 million players life-to-date as of October 2024. Apex Legends popular among eSports fans Apex Legends is a battle royale game which pits up to 20 three-person squads against each other in a fight to the death an island. While the game evidently has millions of devoted players, many more experience the game through some of their favorite eSports players. The Respawn Entertainment game is consistently one of the top games streamed on Twitch, with Apex Legends viewers watching in their thousands to see teams battle it out. In June 2024, approximately 7 million hours of Apex Legends were watched on major livestreaming platorms worldwide, making it one of the most popular games on Twitch and illustrating its appeal to both players and viewers alike. The rise of battle royale Battle royale games often include hundreds of players competing against each other at one time and this large-scale game mode has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to the success of games such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). While many of the games are free to play, players can invest money on in-game purchases, which include upgrades to characters and players. Indeed, player spending in battle royale games often runs into the thousands and spending on PUBG Mobile even surpassed the 1.6 billion U.S. dollar mark in September 2020.