Earning 100 million USD/month but Fortnite BR only took 2 months to launch

Epic Games has bet on Fortnite, at first as a co-op game for players to protect each other by building structures against hordes of zombies. After developing for quite a long time, the game launched last July but was not the big hit as Epic had expected. However, when the team added the free Fortnite Battle Royale mode, things took an unexpected turn and the game became the hit as everyone knows it now. New information about the decision to add this mode including a surprising development timeline has been announced.

Speaking at the Game Developer Conference, Ed Zobrist, publisher of Epic Games, revealed many interesting facts about the development of Battle Royale for Fortnite. After completing Save The World in July, it only took the team two more months to launch the mode and let players test it. Because of the PvP nature of this mode, the Fortnite team recruited shooter experts from the Unreal Tournament team to help.

Another interesting point is that Epic originally planned to include PvP Battle Royale mode instead of PvE ‘Save The World’. Battle Royale is expected to be free during Early Access. But then, players are forced to pay $40 when this phase ends to play Battle Royale – which will certainly affect the popularity of the game. About two weeks before the game’s launch on September 26, Epic decided to change and let this mode launch for free.

Fortnite’s popularity in the media continues to grow. Recently, not only sports teams and players mention the game, but celebrities also imitate the actions in the game. Last week, streamer Ninja broke viewership records on Twitch when he joined some celebs like Drake, Travis Scott, and Juju Smith Schuster for a Fortnite Battle Royale.

Power: GDC 18