Gaming fads often gain immense popularity quickly before rapidly receding, yet Epic Games Fortnite has built an empire worth billions with a platform offering gamers social experiences with other people.
Due to its immense popularity, volleyball has become a cultural phenomenon with celebrities and athletes playing it regularly. Even its own professional league exists.
Free to Play
Fortnite is a free-to-play video game available across consoles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Switch), PCs running Mac or Windows and Android mobile devices, as well as Android mobile phones. The game boasts seasonal content updates as well as an ever-evolving map for players to explore; additionally, cross-play between platforms is allowed.
The game was developed using Unreal Engine engine, a popular choice among many gaming and other applications including film and television, architecture and automotive industries. Its unique building and destruction systems depend on Chaos Physics and Procedural Content Generation to generate realistic environments.
Battle Royale mode allows up to 100 players at once to jump from a battle bus onto an island filled with weapons, dangers and surprises and fight until only one remains standing. There’s also a Creative mode in this game so players can build and customize their own world – Epic Games also recently collaborated with Lego for some unique LEGO-themed experiences that players can discover while in Battle Royale mode.
Microtransactions
Epic Games is a leading video game developer and platform provider with an expansive catalog of high-quality video games, all powered by its signature Unreal Engine. Other developers use Unreal Engine to craft games featuring stunning visuals and innovative gameplay mechanics; as well as providing gamers with tools such as the Epic Games Launcher and website access for gaming services.
Fortnite from Epic has amassed more than 400 million players globally, many of whom are children. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Epic employs deceptive billing practices that make it easy for kids to rack up charges without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Epic’s default settings enabled live-on-by-default text and voice chat between young players and strangers, potentially subjecting them to bullying, threats, harassment and exposure to dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues. Furthermore, Epic allegedly put up roadblocks against reverseing unauthorized purchases such as hiding the refund button behind a long-press mechanic and mandating players use one specific email address in order to file claims against it.
Social Experience
Epic Games recognizes that its gaming ecosystem is not solely limited to hardcore gamers and has worked to foster a social space within its games. This has included collaborations with popular culture brands like Marvel and Ghostbusters to appeal to a broader audience, and also providing insights into user requirements, likes, and preferences in order to develop features like Party Worlds; social spaces which enable players to socialize while enjoying minigames together and meeting friends.
Fortnite is available worldwide due to the company’s dedication to localization and strategic partnerships with global brands, while their dedication to building communities through seasonal events and in-game activities also allows players to feel connected.
Parents looking to ensure the safety of their children while playing will find comfort knowing the game provides in-game and platform-level parental controls, including setting permissions for friend requests, voice and text chat, as well as mature language filtering.
Game Modes
Fortnite is an engaging multiplayer game featuring various game modes ranging from competitive to creative, which have garnered it widespread popularity. Fortnite can be attributed to its engaging gameplay and social elements as well as its free-to-play model and frequent updates, which have attracted large audiences.
Battle Royale is the primary mode in this cooperative PvE (player-versus-environment) game where players work together to save the planet from an impending storm. Missions award in-game items, such as hero characters, weapon schematics, and survivors who can level up to gain enhanced abilities.
Other game modes in Fortnite include LEGO Fortnite, an epic collaborative building adventure; Rocket Racing from developer Psyonix; and Fortnite Festival as an immersive music experience. Many of these Limited Time Modes will only remain available for a certain amount of time before rotating out and being replaced with new content.