What's up with Fortnite?- Matt Munsen



      Fortnite has become a very popular game, with 3.4 million players it is the top played game right now. But why is it suddenly so popular? I did some research and found many reasons that get people to play this game and, when they get on, to be addicted. The thing that gets people on this game in the first place is that it is completely free, there is no cost to install. You just have to download the game content, and you are ready to go. They don’t make their money in the installation of the game, but on in-game purchases such as skins, gliders, pickaxes, and dance moves, which they do quite well, considering they've made $126 million dollars last month. Another reason Fortnite is so popular is its clever design. Every time you beat a player in a fight is a win in itself, as you are able to take all the loot from the player you beat. But Fortnite is not only gun skill and fighting, just as important as shooting is building. Both of these things put together make a very smart design.
      Fortnite is also a social glue. Fortnite is fun to play by yourself, but an even more fun part of the game is linking up with your friends and playing squads, or if there is just two of you, playing duos. Another reason it’s hard to put the controller down is their leveling up system. Epic games made a brilliant design to get people to the game by making it free, but then when the player gets addicted, which they probobly will, they want to have the best gear and level up, and in order to level up and get better stuff, you need to buy the battle pass, which gives you rewards for every time you rank up, with a very good prize when you rank all the way up for that battle pass you need to put in 80-150 hours of game-play, so if you want to rank that battle pass all the way up, you will need to play a considerable amount. There are also many influential players such as Ninja and TSM Myth that stream, and who make people want to be as good as the best players in the world. In my opinion, I don’t think Fortnite will be dead anytime soon, because even though you can win one game, there is no way to beat the whole game and you can just keep ranking up and winning games.