The new year seems as promising as ever when it comes to online gaming. With exciting new titles lined up to be released, and eSports tournaments to prepare for, it is a busy time for the gaming community. Yet the hype generated from some of 2018’s biggest hits is far from over – and what everyone wants to know is, who won in the race between Fortnite Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds?
Fortnite and PUBG Attract Gamers and Online Viewers
Both games have been credited with reinvigorating the battle royale genre that has quickly become incredibly popular among gamers worldwide. Thanks to their fast-paced gameplay and entertaining graphics, they have sparked interest not only among those who want to play but also among online viewers. According to www.Statista.com, in October 2018 alone PUBG had a viewing time of over 23 million hours on Twitch, while Fortnite claimed the top spot across all gaming content with almost 112 million hours in viewing time. The elements of the gameplay across the two have notable similarities: several players “land” on a map, where they have to gather resources to survive, built their defenses, and most importantly, launch their offensives and they fight each other to the death until only one (or one squad) remains victorious.
The Impact of Mobile Gaming
The impact of the games in popular culture is broadly recognized, especially after the floss dance – which according to www.Ranker.com is the best Fortnite dance out of the lot – became widely popularized and even appeared in a Katy Perry video. Part of their immense success is that both games relied heavily on their mobile versions to reach a wider audience. Mobile gaming is on the rise across a wide variety of online gaming sectors. As www.CasinoWings.com reports, even mobile casinos are now among the most popular in the genre, as players like the convenience of playing on the go. Free-to-play games are the unspoken rule within the mobile gaming industry, which helps attract players who have nothing to lose by testing the waters. Monetization strategies then take over to ensure that the game makes a profit. These include in-game microtransactions like purchasing character skins or emotes, or buying a “pass” to unlock new challenges and features.
Fortnite: Most Profitable Game in History
It seems that Fortnite really knows how to play the game: despite it being free-to-play, the game managed to make a whopping $2.4 billion, according to www.Telegraph.co.uk. This means that the game topped the free-to-play rankings, while it grossed the largest annual revenue in gaming history. Its success hugely helped the digital games market to amass a total of almost $110 billion across all platforms – a 11% rise compared to 2017 – while the industry is set to surpass $118 billion this year. Over 200 million players turned to Fortnite, while free-to-play games, in general, accounted for 80% of all global revenue – with 62% of that thanks to Asian users, who are very fond of games like Honour of Kings by Tencent. By contrast, its nemesis PUBG topped the premium games list for 2018 but gathered only a little over $1 billion.
Still, PUBG surpassed in revenue top games like FIFA 18, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Overwatch. It remains to be seen whether 2019 will close with those figures climbing even higher for the top performers.