Fortnite overtakes PUBG, becoming the 4th most played game

Based on Newzoo’s PC Game Tracker rankings this February, we can see that Fortnite is growing in popularity. According to PC Game Tracker, based on data from 42 different countries, Fortnite became the fourth most popular game in February this year, with 16.3% of players being PC gamers. This puts the game ahead of another giant of the battle royale genre, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG), which is currently ranked 5th with 14.6%. Fortnite’s popularity is also growing thanks to its community of streamers and fans. Newzoo’s Game Tracker system shows that, excluding Esport viewership, Fortnite was the most watched game on Twitch and Youtube Gaming combined in February alone.

This article will help us find out how Fortnite made such a breakthrough in February and see which countries are enjoying Fortnite the most.

PLAYER RESISTANCE RATE INCREDIBLE WITH THE LAUNCH OF NEW CONTENT

According to Newzoo’s PC Game Tracker, we can see that Fortnite’s playtime rate has increased as well as the game’s player base. In February, 14% of Fortnite’s players (up from 8% in December) who played the game played the game for at least 28 days. The amount of content that Fortnite puts out is likely one of the main reasons for this growth. For example, the game released four patches in February, including a Valentine’s Day event with new skins, new weapons, such as crossbows and miniguns, and improved build abilities. .

While PUBG’s recent updates seem to be focused solely on improving and introducing anti-cheat measures, including disabling Steam’s Family Sharing feature and blocking programs that can boost profits substitute for players or cheat. PUBG has also added 2 new crates and tweaked its inventory system. This still wasn’t enough to boost the game’s appeal, resulting in a slight drop in player count to 12% in February from 13% last December.

This trend is also reflected by the churn rate of both games. Among gamers in the US who stopped playing PUBG in February (and had played the title in the previous two months), 29.7% have switched to playing Fortnite. On the other hand, only 24.3% of gamers in the US stopped playing Fortnite and switched to PUBG. This February, Fortnite also overtook PUBG in terms of active players, resulting in a slight upheaval on PUBG’s servers. It will be interesting to see how this trend evolves following the announcement that Fortnite will also be ported to mobile and include cross-play functionality allowing other players to play on consoles and PCs.

FORTNITE IS GROWING IN EUROPE; PUBG MOST POPULAR IN ASIA

When comparing Fortnite and PUBG, it’s interesting to look at the amount of players each title attracts. PUBG tends to attract hardcore gamers with its realistic graphics and gameplay. Meanwhile, Fortnite has a simple and quite cartoon-like look with less complicated gameplay. The map and armory, the game’s items are also less when compared to PUBG. This, combined with the fact that Fortnite is a free-to-play title, has made the game more accessible for players looking to “test the game” and players who want a less complicated game.

Fortnite has also appeared on many streaming platforms in February. Based on Newzoo’s Game Streaming Tracker we can also see that, excluding Esport viewership, Fortnite is the most viewed game on Twitch and Youtube Gaming plus again, up to 88.3 million hours. 21.6 million more hours than in January of this year.

There is also a clear difference in popularity across countries. Newzoo’s PC Game Tracker system shows that Fortnite is most popular in most of Europe and Middle East countries in February while PUBG performs best in Asian countries, and a few countries in Europe . PUBG is most popular in China with 52% of PC gamers playing the title in January of this year (while just 1% playing Fortnite), followed by South Korea and Hong Kong. While France is the country where Fortnite is most active with the number of people playing the game is 29% compared to 8% playing PUBG.

MOST PLAYED PC GAMES IN February

Taking a look at Newzoo’s Most Played Core PC Game Ranking, which is based on special sessions in North America and Europe, Fortnite has climbed three places in the rankings and secured its spot at number four. This pushed CS:GO, PUBG, and World of Warcraft down one rank. Grand Theft Auto V and Ark: Survival Evolved have also dropped two places to 13th and 16th respectively. It’s also worth noting that GTA5 had a Steam sale in mid-February and the game passed 90. million copies sold since its release. Warframe has re-entered the rankings at number 20, most likely thanks to the game’s Prime Vault Unsealed event.

Source: NEWZOO