Fortnite Battle Royale is a global phenomenon with combined elements of some of our favorite building games and shooter games. Fortnite is a cooperative survival game that was first revealed by Epic Games in 2011. Ever since its launch in September 2017, Fortnite has become one of the most popular video games in the world, attracting over 45 million players. Live streams of matches on broadcasting services Twitch and YouTube have amassed millions of views and have even broken records, including 667,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch and 1.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.

“Despite having seen posts virtually everywhere on social media about Fort- nite, I only began playing after a student mentioned it in class,” said James Fischer, English teacher. “As frustrating as it is to be eliminated by players who are probably a third my age, Fortnite is a lot of fun.”

Before Fortnite Battle Royale, shooter games revolved around a duck-and-cover approach, resulting in stalemates. Fortnite, however, allows players to scavenge resources to build structures, offering far more inventive ways to retaliate and overcome enemies. The wide range of gadgets and weapons, moreover, provide further specialization and experimentation. Fortnite takes place in a rolling buffet of varied cartoonish environments from open meadows to close-quarter buildings. The verticality the scale of spaces in a game, is not only far more welcoming than the slightly forbidding environs of most multiplayer shooting games but also allows players to make use of their surrounding geography.

“Each elimination isn’t merely a matter of having twitchy first-person shooter skills,” said Brian Bok (9), a self-proclaimed Fortnite pro. “It is an achievement in and of itself with attendant rewards, including satisfying loot drops, that one cannot accomplish without playing tactfully.”

Unlike most console and PC video games, Fortnite Battle Royale is free to download and play. If desired, players have the option of purchasing the game’s virtual currency using real money, which is used to purchase battle packs containing exclusive clothing and items. These battle packs only last a “season” (roughly three months), requiring players to buy more packs to access exclusive content every few months.

“Fortnite is far more accessible than most video games – you have access to multiplayer modes and weapons without having to spend a penny,” said Andrew Cho (9), Fortnite enthusiast. “Although players can spend their money on different cosmetics, it doesn’t give them an advantage as they only include new out ts and weapon designs, none of which give players an upper hand on the battle eld.”