A Fortnite avatar drifts down towards the battlefield on his glider. (unsplash.com)

Fortnite, a game developed by Epic Games for both PC and console, was first released in late June of last year. After the launch of its Battle Royale mode in September, the game’s active player base blew up, totalling 30 million downloads in December and 40 million in January. Our school is no exception to this sudden rise in popularity, as Fortnite has managed to infatuate a substantial group of students from all grades.

What causes people to be so attracted to Fortnite? The cartoonish way the game depicts its characters and scenery it appealing some players, but isn’t anything new. Overwatch, another first-person kind of game, is quite popular worldwide, also uses a bright and cartoonish art style that captivates players. 

The Battle Royale format, which pits 100 players against each other on a shrinking map, isn’t an original idea either. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, commonly referred to as PUBG, is another game that has gained popularity quickly that also supports a Battle Royale configuration. Despite releasing later than PUBG, Fortnite has surpassed it in terms of concurrent player count, totalling 3.4 million concurrent players over PUBG’s 3 million.

What really attracts vast swathes of players is the updates that are released frequently. The ability to access new and free material immediately is something that is alluring to everyone. Just this Friday, Epic Games informed their fanbase about their aspirations for the near future, which includes new cosmetics and directional audio. Based on the how fast updates are coming out and their player base is growing, it would be no surprise to see the game more and more on school campus.