Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, PS4, iOS & Xbox One) earns a lot of money. According to renowned analyst Michael Pachter, this is due to the brilliant business model of Epic’s battle royale game.
Who is Michael Pachter? Michael Pachter has been an analyst for years working in the gaming sector at Wedbush Securities. He is well known for his rather provocative theses and predictions:
- He has predicted the end of consoles several times
- Categorized PC gamers as arrogant idiots and racists
- Claimed that loot boxes exist only because people are foolish enough to buy them
But regarding Fortnite: Battle Royale, the controversial analyst takes much more positive tones in an interview with Venturebeat.
Time-limited skins are much better than RNG loot boxes
The business model of Fortnite: Battle Royale particularly excites the analyst. He calls it simply “brilliant”. On one hand, Fortnite is free-to-play and costs nothing. And then there are no loot boxes with random content and vanishingly low chances.
According to Pachter, Fortnite has something much better: time-limited skins! Every day new skins come into the shop costing between 8 and 20 euros. However, they are not available forever. Often, the expensive and accordingly cool skins are only available during specific events or it may take many weeks or months for a particular skin to return to the shop. If the skin ever comes back!
Therefore, many players would immediately jump at the chance and reach for their credit cards. After all, the cool skin could be gone soon. And all this without annoying loot boxes and gambling.
The Battle Pass – A fair offer
Additionally, there is the Battle Pass. It costs only 9.50 euros, provides various skins and other items, and pays for itself. You also receive in-game currency (V-Bucks) worth 15 euros if you complete it. According to Pachter, it is enough to buy such a pass once, play through it, and then grab the next pass from the prize money.
Theoretically, you could play unlimited Battle Passes once you have purchased it. Provided Epic does not change the prices or the V-Buck yield in future passes.
50 million US dollars in one day! – A role model for other publishers?
Nonetheless, enough people are likely still purchasing the passes with real money. Pachter claims to have been informed by Epic that the last Battle Pass was sold over 5 million times – in just one day! That would mean about 50 million dollars that Epic earned just from the pass.
According to Pachter, Epic’s great success with their business model is a signal to all other publishers. He expects that sooner or later, many publishers will adopt this model and also offer cosmetic products and cheap game passes in their games. Thus, no one would complain about pay-to-win anymore.
