Video game developers always want their games to become hits. With the industry having so much popularity, a wide variety of games has recently been released. First-person shooters, sports games, and action games dominate the market at the moment. Most new and great games cost $60, but Fortnite-Battle Royale is completely free.

Fortnite Battle Royale, developed by Epic Games, is actually not a full game. It is only a part of a previously developed game, which was recently added due to the increasing popularity of this genre of games. It is available on PC, Xbox One, and PS4. In the battle-royale section, you can play by yourself against up to 99 other people, with a friend against 98 people, or even with 3 other friends against 96 other players.  

A large part of why Fortnite is so successful is because it is free to play. Other popular battle-royale games such as PUBG (Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds) and H1Z1 charge for the game. All possible purchases that Fortnite has are extra in-game purchases.

Similar to most battle-royale games, a player skydives down to buildings and areas on the map. After landing, you then need to collect as many weapons, medical supplies, and materials as you can. Weapons can vary from snipers, assault rifles, pistols, and more. Fortnite has you play only in a third-person viewpoint, which differs from PUBG in that PUBG allows you to aim in first-person. The rarities of weapons range from worst to best are common (white), uncommon (green), rare (blue), epic (purple), and legendary (yellow). “My favorite weapon is the SCAR assault rifle, which is either an epic or legendary weapon,” said Jiho Park (’20). “It does a large amount of damage and is arguably the best weapon in Fortnite.

To win a game of Fortnite, you must eliminate enemy players while running away from the storm. The storm is a part of Fortnite that shrinks the play area on the map. If a player is in the storm, the storm will damage them. The storm will shrink until it takes up the entire map. At the final stage of the storm, it takes away 10 health from your max level of 100 health.  

One aspect that differentiates Fortnite from other battle-royale games is the ability to build in the game. You can chop trees or break stone and metal in order to gain those materials. You can build walls, stairs, floors and pretty much anything you want to. Most players use these materials to build bases to protect themselves from enemy players. “The strategic aspect of collecting materials and building puts an incredibly strategic spin on the game,” said Ken Liao (’20). “Players must not only know how to fight with the different weapons but also how to protect themselves from enemies correctly.” 

Right now, Fortnite is one of the hottest games on the market and it will keep growing for a long time. Even people who have never played video games before are interested in the game. “I’m not a big fan of video games, but I couldn’t resist trying out Fortnite,” said Miguel Garcia (’20). “I saw some videos of the game, and it looked like a ton of fun, especially with friends.”

Fortnite’s huge success is very well deserved. With no signs of slowing down, Fortnite looks as if it will be one for the future.