The gaming industry has completely taken over the world in the past decade. From multiplayer titles to single-player indie games and more, playing is a pastime that the world has entangled itself in heavily. And with so many genres out there to choose from, the pages of games across Steam, Epic Games, Origin, and many more game development and publishing platforms continue to grow.
One genre that’s progressively gotten larger, especially around 2017, is battle royale arena games. Also known as battle royales, this genre has entirely taken over the mass-multiplayer population, reaching ,$2.8 billion in revenue last 2019. Since then, the market for battle royale games is estimated ,to have surpassed that margin by $17.93 billion in 2021, which is nearly 500% of the evaluation three years ago.
Funnily enough, battle royales weren’t even popular worldwide until a few major games came out. Player’s Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG) was the first to hit the ground running, with KRAFTON cultivating a trending genre in March 2017.
Brendan Greene, the maker of PUBG and Day-Z, another similar game featuring zombies that didn’t do as well as PUBG, helped develop the title alongside KRAFTON.
Since PUBG’s inception, multiple other battle royale titles have come to life through the inspiration and goal of creating unique experiences that take the genre to unseen places. Now, with over five years in the trend, battle royale games of all kinds have spread across the lives of millions, setting the standard for what ,multiplayer games, especially shooters, should be.
What Is Fortnite?
PUBG may not have anything in common with Fortnite at all, but it was majorly a reason for its success as a battle royale. Initially, Fortnite was never a battle royale; it actually was a game combining building, surviving, and killing zombies called Save the World. It was sort of like if Minecraft and Left 4 Dead had a child, early-stage Fortnite would be the embodiment of it.
Source: Epic Games
So how did the ,rapid-paced, cartoonish-style shooter and battle royale the world relishes now come to be? It started with the gap in the market, the transition of gameplay, and the introduction of attractive microtransactions.
Because PUBG left such a massive impact on gamers, battle royale games started getting popular. When Fortnite, Save the World was released in June 2017, many people weren’t as interested because everyone started playing battle royales. It was not until Epic Games decided to transition Fortnite’s character and gameplay design towards the genre that things began to click.
Source: Epic Games
Since there wasn’t anything revolutionary that didn’t feature a standard-looking gun or art style, PUBG was as original as battle royales could get in game design. This gap was the perfect opportunity for Fortnite to show off its cartoonish, flashy-colored gameplay highlighting a new take on battle royales.
See, PUBG was pretty simple; players would loot, get weapons, drive around, eliminate enemies, and make it to the end as the last one standing. The game was solely focused on shooting, driving, and essentially, surviving.
What Fortnite brought to the table was more than just guns or grenades, but the ability to build and fight vertically. At the time, building fortresses, bridges extending from one hill to another, and even farming materials such as wood during games was game-changing for the genre. And because PUBG amassed millions of players towards the genre, Fortnite’s entry was perfectly timed as it allowed the game to pull in a majority of those players to the title since it was also a battle royale.
Ever since that initial transition, Fortnite’s building mechanics, clever visual design, and attractive microtransactions like the battle pass with an array of evolving cosmetics and tiers allowed it to grow into one of the biggest games of the century.
Where and What to Play in Fortnite?
Currently, the game is available across many mediums, which is another thing fans love about Fortnite. Its ever-changing seasons and in-depth storyline, alongside unique collaborations between movies, games, and more significant identities worldwide, have brought cosmetics to fans over the past years. Because of these massive introductions, from Star Wars to Marvel and even Halo, Fortnite remains one of the best battle royales out there, spreading across PC, console, and mobile.
What are the playable modes in Fortnite?
It’s been a long time since Fortnite’s old days. The game’s changed immensely and has gone through over twenty seasons. It’s also another great thing players love about Fortnite. It never ceases to evolve and throughout the years, the ways to play the game have altered drastically.
Starting with the different modes, Fortnite possesses: Save the World, Creative, Battle Royale, and Zero Build. Besides the aforementioned versions, Creative is simply a mode for players to build their own arenas, modes, cities, etc. Players can practically construct and make whatever gameplay they’d like to in Creative; it’s a sandboxed experience.
On the other hand, Zero Build completely removes the adored constructing mechanic that’s been a signature for Fortnite. Zero Build mode introduces a new way to enjoy Fortnite for players that don’t love the entire building aspect.
What is a melee weapon in Fortnite?
Everyone has a melee weapon, most of the time, just the base pickaxe. Melee weapons are customizable and are one of the most used game mechanics in Fortnite. Melee weapons are used to farm materials to build, destroy platforms or buildings, and even damage objects or other players.
The most remarkable thing about Fortnite is how players can customize their melee weapons with all sorts of skins that sparkle, glow, and more. There are different types of melee weapons like dual cleavers, katanas, and many more choices for players to pick from. Overall, melee weapons are essentially the first actual weapon players can use in the game.
What is melee damage in Fortnite?
Players can jump and attack enemies with melee weapons and deal melee damage. Melee damage is essentially the amount of damage you can deal against objects like trees, rocks, or enemies. Melee weapons deal fifty percent of their damage against wood or rock, and twenty percent against metal. To players, melee weapons deal twenty damage per hit.
What is double movement in Fortnite?
Double movement in Fortnite allows players to make straight-to-diagonal movements. It’s a feature ,experienced players use to get ahead. Essentially, it’s about configuring your PC settings to near-replicate controller movement. With the help of a couple of third-party tools to perform double movement, players can continue moving forward while checking their surroundings.
Using third-party tools to configure keys isn’t cheating; it’ll just upgrade the keyboard to have controller-based keys. Nowadays, most players use double movement to get ahead of the game and it’s another innovative mechanic about Fortnite.
Ultimately, there are many ways to play Fortnite and across many platforms to enjoy the game. Its accessibility and consistently changing environment give the game an experience unlike any other. The ability to always experience something new is what Fortnite’s excelled at with every season that’s passed. Its newest mode, Zero Build shows players more modes to enjoy about Fortnite. And, of course, it won’t ever be the end of this continuous flow of implemented features as Fortnite continues to unravel an in-game universe of stories, characters, and exciting game modes for fans to play.
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Jay Hunter is a freelance writer, editor, interviewer and aspiring developer passionate about gaming and esports. In his spare time, you'll find him losing LP in League of Legends or watching hours of esports on end.