In an interview, Twitch streamer Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten was asked if Fortnite would die. Her answer is quite clear: No. Why she thinks so is summarized for you by MeinMMO.
Who is she anyway? The 28-year-old Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten is one of the most well-known female streamers of Fortnite and is also among the largest female Twitch streamers in general.
She hails from Australia and streams a variety of games daily. In the last 90 days, she played Among Us and Fortnite particularly often. But games like Call of Duty and Rocket League were also included. She also became known for a skin she received in the summer of 2020 in Battle Royale.
She recently gave an interview to the US website Dexerto, specifically discussing the current state of Fortnite. The question of whether Fortnite is dying was also raised.
Why is the question even coming up? It depends on which players you ask. Some have dropped out after the map change because they don’t like the new one as much.
The old map is missed by some so much that one player even recreated it. Hence, some of the older active players have left. Although the game keeps getting new skins and content, there are always claims from the community that Fortnite is dying.
She strongly disagrees, even laughing at the question. The situation is very good, and it should get much better, according to her.
Fortnite will not die; the next peak is coming
Why does she not believe Fortnite is dying? The reason why some players complain is, according to Loserfruit, the current state of Fortnite. It’s in a kind of waiting phase:
I believe we are in a waiting period with Fortnite now, where the game will experience its next major peak. When that happens, I think people will stop thinking it is dead.
via dexerto.com
She also claims that Fortnite is currently in the best state since its release. Over the past few months, Epic Games has brought a lot of features into the game that will bear fruit in the long run.
For example, she says: “They [the developers] have created more ways to travel quickly across the map, there are new fun items, and in terms of balance, it is the best and most enjoyable.”
Personally, she would like to see additional ranked modes so that grinding is more rewarding. Overall, she sees Fortnite in a very good state. Of course, as a Fortnite streamer, she is somewhat biased in that regard. Based solely on player numbers, it is more a matter of interpretation.
In Fortnite, the numbers are going down, but there are still millions of players
How many players does Fortnite actually have? In general, it is hard to say how many people are actively playing the game. Epic Games itself does not release any numbers. In 2018, Fortnite had its absolute peak with over 70 million active players.
Recently, the double-digit million mark was likely crossed in December 2020 during the Galactus event:
- According to estimates from the site PlayerCounter, over 15 million players played simultaneously at that time. Throughout the year, an average of between 4 and 8 million players were active (via dexerto.com).
- The fluctuations are high, yet the numbers remain strong compared to other games. For instance, the classic shooter Counter Strike has a peak of nearly 2 million simultaneously active players (via steamcharts.com).
- In recent months, the numbers for Counter Strike ranged between over 400,000 and 500,000 players. Fortnite currently has (as of October 27, 18:40) around 2.8 million active players (via PlayerCounter.com).
Fortnite has definitely lost some popularity. This is likely not only due to the content but also to the age of the game. Fortnite is now over 5 years old.
Nevertheless, it remains one of the largest and most successful online games of all time and has managed to maintain high interest over the years. An imminent death looks different. Activity will surely rise again with future major events.
What do you think about it? Do you see Fortnite on the decline, or do you share Loserfruit’s perspective?
