Fortnite is slowly beating PUBG

This March 23 marks one year Bluehole released PlayerUnknown’s Battleground on Steam. The title has surpassed all expectations, selling over 30 million copies on PC and Xbox One as of January 2018 and is one of the most popular titles in the Battle Royale series. However, PUBG is showing signs of lagging behind Epic Games’ Fortnite: Battle Royale rival. In other words, Fortnite is slowly beating PUBG.

Fortnite has surpassed PUBG in many numbers. During the last week of February, Fortnite had 14.0 million viewers on Twitch compared to PUBG’s 8.7 million. Compare that to the 4th week of January, when PUBG had 8.5 million viewers while Fortnite only reached 6.1 million. In February, Fortnite overtook PUBG in terms of PC and console sales ($126 million vs. $103 million). While Fortnite continued to climb, PUBG sales peaked in December (the last month before PUBG left Steam Early Access on PC and launched Xbox One).

Fortnite’s advantage lies in its easy access. Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode is free (while PUBG costs $30) and the game hit consoles in September 2017, months before PUBG. Fortnite is also kid-friendly thanks to its cartoonish graphics. Those factors have made Fortnite a phenomenon. The game appeared in the quiz as well as played by celebrities. The mobile version of the game also appeals to younger players – who can’t play the game on PC or console.

PUBG’s growth slowed down not just because of Fortnite’s success. Cheating in PUBG continues to be rampant, and Bluehole is forced to focus its resources on fighting this problem instead of creating new content and refining gameplay.

Competition in the battle royale market will become more intense in the near future. Major publishers like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft have the potential to bring AAA titles into the genre.

As gamers increasingly invest in certain games, the battle royale segment will almost take shape like MOBA or CCG (card) games. In 2017, League of Legends and Dota 2 accounted for 57% of the PC MOBA market. Major MOBA game publishers such as EA (Dawngate) and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Infinite Crisis) was soon forgotten by entering the market too late. Similarly, Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft accounted for more than half of the PC card game market last year.

With so many competitors, what will PUBG have to do to find a foothold?

First, publishers should focus on gameplay that is demanded by everyone. Rival battle royale games from AAA studios are sure to target new players. PUBG can be seriously game-oriented, like hardcore shooters like Rainbow Six: Siege – which also found success despite having a much smaller audience than Call of Duty. PUBG publishers need to get over the hacking problem in the game soon so they can refresh the game and add more content.

PUBG is no longer the biggest battle royale game. But it still has an edge over games that haven’t been released yet. With enough time to fix, PUBG will secure its market share in this extreme series.