Fortnite is a free-to-play battle royale that was first released in 2017 as a co-op third-person survival game under the name Fortnite: Save the World. Seeing that the game wasn’t popular in the newly-formed community and PUBG: Battleground became a cultural phenomenon quickly after its release, the devs began working on their version of the battle royale game that would eventually become Fortnite Battle Royale. This game mode quickly grew in popularity, with 10 million players joining the game in the first two weeks of its release.
Over the years, Fortnite grew in popularity even more, with the game peaking in 2021 with an incredible 83.3 million monthly active users, according to Bussiness of Apps. This means the game has only been growing over the span of four years, thanks to Epic Games’ restless efforts to keep the game fresh and exciting for everybody.
Today, anywhere between 2.9 and 4 million users are playing Fortnite on a daily basis, according to PlayerCounter. Since Fortnite is doing so well for itself, why is the community repeatedly questioning the state of the game and believing the game is dead? Although the community is divided into hardcore skeptics and tireless idealists, it’s worth exploring the current state of the game. We’ll tackle why the players believe Fortnite is dying and why exactly Fortnite has never been in a more healthy state than now.
Why do Fortnite players believe the game is dying?
Despite Fortnite’s incredible numbers, there’s a large part of its community that doubts the game will once again see its glory days, similar to Chapter two’s success that didn’t only bring in a bunch of new players but also had a terribly interesting meta full of chaos and excitement. The main reasons why players believe Fortnite is a dead game in 2022 are because the game has already peaked, it’s extremely difficult to pick up for new players, it’s repetitive—and therefore tedious—and lastly, tons of Fortnite streamers have long left the game for some other games on the market that offer more modern features.
Fortnite has already peaked
Fortnite’s glory days came immediately after its release since the game became an instantaneous hit that even had 10 million players only two weeks in. During that time, Epic was in touch with its community to such an amazing extent that listened to all the feedback it could get to improve the game even more. This led to Fortnite being in an immaculate state with incredibly versatile metas, unique game modes, and diverse island maps that only live in our memories. Since such momentums normally can’t be replicated and relived because you had to be there to witness its full radiance, Fortnite today doesn’t even begin to compare with its glory days.
Fortnite is difficult to pick up for new players
Over the years, the Fortnite player base mastered the game and perfected every possible aspect of the game. Now, new players—once they queue up for Build mode—simply can’t keep up with the agility, knowledge, and aptitude of veteran players who leave them no breathing room. Since even the casual modes are highly competitive, this leaves little to no room for new players to learn the game. Due to this, we are seeing more and more players giving up Fortnite only a week after they started playing the game. So, the game struggled to keep new players intrigued and amused. This only leaves veteran players competing amongst each other with no breeze of freshness and innovation to the game.
Fortnite is repetitive
Other than battle passes, Fortnite has no visible meaningful progression system that awards you for your dedication, invested time and effort, and skill. On the contrary, the whole idea behind Fortnite is its replayability. Thanks to a series of variables, no match of Fortnite is essentially the same. Still, the whole concept of surviving until the very end with every tool at your disposal is the same in every match of the game. Since you’re playing the game with the same goal over and over again, it’s no wonder the game gets mundane and tedious to play unless you have quests to grind.
Fortnite streamers are leaving the game
Popular Fortnite streamers like Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo and Ali “SypherPK” Hassan stopped playing the game. For DrLupo, it was “hard to play the same thing every single day forever.” SypherPK also gave up on Fortnite because he had been feeling trapped in the game. So, it’s no secret that Fortnite’s repetitiveness is heavily tied to players and content creators giving up since they lack a fresh approach to their favorite game.
The reality of Fortnite
Although there are more than a handful of indicators pointing to the idea that Fortnite is dead in 2022, the game has been thriving thanks to the growing number of new players coming to the game and veteran players returning to the game. On top of that, Epic regularly updates the game to spice up the current meta. And lastly, Fortnite has never been in a better state visually and content-wise.
Players are returning to the game
One of the biggest selling points of Fortnite has been Zero Build. Since its release on March 29, 2022, Zero Build has brought back big names like Turner “Tfue” Tenney, Herschel “Dr Disrespect” Beahm, and Tyler “Ninja” Blevins after they quit the game largely because of burnout. Thanks to Zero Build becoming a permanent mode in Fortnite, the streamers fell in love with the game once again. And since the streamers play an immense role in the game’s community, it’s no surprise they rekindled the love for the game in many long-lost fans. On top of all of that, Fortnite has, with the introduction of Zero Build, become a more noob-friendly game that doesn’t demand you practice for hours and hours.
Epic regularly updates the game to keep the meta interesting
Epic regularly balances and updates Fortnite so the meta won’t become stale and mundane. In other words, every week, Epic launches at least a minor update vaulting and unvaulting the weapons or tweaking the numbers. For example, with the beginning of Chapter three, season four on Sept. 18, we’ve seen Port-a-Bunker make their first appearance in Zero Build, drastically shifting the meta and making it obligatory to have this utility item in your inventory, especially in the late game. Although these changes seem minor, every change—no matter how small and insignificant it may seem—has a large impact on the meta. Thanks to Epic’s constant efforts, the game constantly has a splash of freshness to it that prevents the game from feeling boring.
Fortnite has never been in a better state visually and content-wise
On top of regular balancing updates, Epic frequently launches new cosmetics, quests, and other similar content so you always have something to do in the game. Since it’s difficult to run out of fresh content in Fortnite, the game can keep you hooked for days with all its repeatable missions, battle passes, and hidden content on the island.
Chapter two, season seven, shipped on June 8, 2021, with a large-scale visual update that polished the visual effects, environment, and improved storm and cloud effects. Since the v17.00 update, the game has never been in a better state visually speaking because you can clearly see and hear all the most important aspects of the game, like shots, the storm closing in, and movement.
The future of Fortnite
Bearing in mind players have been surging into play Fortnite since the release of Zero Build as permanent mode and the game has never been standing better when considering the sheer number of quests, content, cosmetics, and player base statistics, it’s safe to assume Fortnite’s future is bright. There are, of course, features Epic should definitely work on, like giving more love to professional play and working on more unique game modes that give the game a fresh feel.
Still, the game is absolutely following the natural process of video games that includes a humble launch, a sudden surge in popularity that launches the game at the top of the charts, and a steady yet dedicated community that will stop at nothing to defend and play their favorite game. Although the game has surpassed its glory days, and it probably won’t ever have the same feel to it, it’s still in a more than healthy state—and assuming Epic keeps up the good work, it will stay that way.
In conclusion, Fortnite is far from a dead game in 2022, although the most critical members of the community proclaimed that the game’s popularity has been rapidly declining. The game has a healthy population of between 2.9 and 4 million users playing Fortnite on a daily basis. Besides that, the game has never been more friendly to new and returning players, with numerous game modes like Creative and Zero Build. Provided Epic continues working on Fortnite in the same fashion it has been for these past few years, the game definitely has a spot among the top games in the future.