After dominating the gaming world for the better part of three years since its launch in 2017, it’s easy to take Fortnite for granted. While you could argue there are better battle royale games with deeper gameplay that appeal to “proper gamers,” Epic Games’ innovation with Fortnite as a platform, rather than just a game, continues to show that they are light-years ahead of the competition. Nowhere is this creativity clearer than in their highly publicised live events, which are consistently taking video games to new heights when it comes to mainstream appeal.
After being furiously committed (some might say addicted) to Fortnite for about a year, I bailed sometime around season five, as it began to stray further from the straightforward Hunger Games-esque, survival-of-the-fittest experience that I adored in the early days. The introduction of teleporting rifts and all-terrain karts paired with the game’s image of being popular with young children was enough to turn me off completely. Plus, I still couldn’t build properly.
But while my interest in hopping on the battle bus waned a long time ago, Fortnite’s ground-breaking live experiences have always encouraged me to keep an eye on what’s going on – so much so, that the recent Travis Scott concert, which saw more than 12 million players login to see it, forced me to boot up for the first time this year.
This visually stunning show proved once again that Fortnite is head and shoulders above anything else in the industry right now in terms of showcasing the wonders of video gaming to new audiences. What these stunts do is push our world into the consciousness of people who would never be otherwise exposed. Fortnite is using its enormous platform to reach out to potential new gamers in an admirable attempt break down the barriers of what can be a daunting and alienating form of entertainment.
By joining forces with the biggest names in popular culture, not only do you generate buzz and put your name out there, but you give yourself the best possible opportunity of reaching fans of a property or artist that had never considered playing the game before. Artists the size of Travis Scott or Marshmello have dedicated fan bases who want to interact with them by any means necessary. Promoting a game through a one-off concert featuring a fan’s favourite artist sees them flock to their friend’s consoles or to streaming platforms just to catch a glimpse of the event. Suddenly, our beloved medium is on their radar like it never has been before.
It’s always easy to take shots at something that’s astronomically popular. Among certain circles of our communities, it has almost become cooler to hate Fortnite than it is to play it. A criticism consistently levelled is that limited events like the Avengers crossover and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer reveal shallow corporate stunts to sell in-game skins. While I don’t entirely disagree, this is a critique from a gamer’s perspective that ignores the wider ramifications.
Strictly speaking, Fortnite doesn’t need to do any of this; the game already makes unfathomable amounts of money and attracts more than enough players to coast along like any other. Fortnite is choosing not to coast, however, it’s choosing to move forward and try daring new things. How many games would take a risk like ending their season by shutting the game down for days, leaving nothing more than a black hole on the screen?
Put simply, events of this size and scope, which incorporate the most recognisable properties in the world, appeal to everyone. Even a middle-aged father of three who’s never heard of Solid Snake and thinks a health bar is something he can buy from Tesco could hop into this free game and wield a lightsaber, fight Thanos, or become the Dark Knight. Something that we may take for granted is that video games have an innate ability to let us live our wildest fantasies. Fortnite is taking that special quality and reaching corners of society that would never have come close to experiencing it any other way. If that isn’t what video games are all about – then what is?
Words by Nathan Warby