Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Switch) is said by developer Epic to have celebrated its greatest success in August 2018. However, there are also voices that doubt August as a record month. Is Fortnite on the decline or is it just a matter of perspective?
The numbers from August 2018: In a blog post about the upcoming eSports event Fall Skirmish, Epic mentioned among other things the player numbers from the past month of August. Accordingly, 78.3 million players are said to have played Fortnite.
The numbers refer overall to all six platforms on which Fortnite is currently available: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, iOS, and Android. They also include the slowly growing Fortnite market in China. There, the game is currently being distributed by publisher Tencent in waves of beta invitations.
How are the numbers distributed? Unfortunately, Epic does not say how many players play on which platform.
Nevertheless, the new mobile platforms are likely to make up a significant part: the Switch version was downloaded more than 2 million times within 24 hours.
With these record numbers, Fortnite, according to Epic, has reached its current peak. However, there may be doubts about how this is evaluated.
Twitch numbers drop, is Fortnite in decline?
What does Twitch say? If we look at the numbers on Twitch, where Fortnite is presented via famous streamers like Ninja, the situation looks less rosy. As we reported, the watching minutes have dropped from 8.88 to 7.7 billion. Still incredibly high, but no longer a record.
This represents a decline of 13 percent. To clarify: 7.7 billion minutes corresponds to 2.5 million episodes of the series “Orange is the New Black”.
According to Twitch statistics, August was by no means the best month. Instead, the peak of viewing minutes is said to have been reached back in July and has declined since then.
Can both sources be right? Of course, these two statements do not have to contradict each other. It is quite possible that Fortnite was played a lot in August, but less often streamed.
This could be primarily due to the popular Battle Royale beta of Black Ops 4, which for many fans is the future of the genre.
Fortnite needs to change
Fortnite still at the top: Of course, with 78 million players and 7.7 billion minutes on Twitch, you can live well and still be the undisputed leader in the world market. However, Epic should not rest too much on the laurels of the past months.
Serious competition is coming: The competition in its current form from Black Ops 4 is already nibbling at Fortnite’s throne, and Epic should come up with something better for the new 6th season than it did in season 5. This has generally been perceived by many players as unremarkable. Early signs of fatigue are becoming evident.
New ideas are needed: Perhaps it’s time for a new map, even crazier characters with interchangeable hats and more new game modes, such as the heist or the Thanos crossover.
