How Fortnite's Battle Royale Mode Changed Gaming History

Fortnite is one of the most popular video games in the world today. The objective of the game is simple: be the last one standing out of 100 people. The game helped kick start the battle royale craze in the gaming industry.

Other titles like DayZ. PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS and H1Z1 were around prior to Fortnite, but no game had such an impact like Fortnite did on release. The battle royale concept wasn't something new to video games or pop culture. Name the movie Battle Royale or The Hunger Games franchise as examples.

Epic Games instead reinvented the genre through addicting and rewarding gameplay, unique features like building cosmetics and more. Up until then, battle royale games were centered in realism. Epic Games broke that mold with Fortnite and rode it to success.

Fortnite streamers started getting increased intention on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. The most notable being Tyler "Ninja" Blevins who rose to superstardom alongside Fortnite. Hundreds of thousands of viewers tuned in to watch him play with rappers Drake and Travis Scott and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Celebrities playing video games isn't anything new, but the stream was a cultural phenomenon. More and more streamers continued to ride Fortnite's success and capitalized on it becoming mainstay names on platforms.

Not to mention, Fortnite had an immediate impact on the gaming industry. The battle royale genre up until that point was small, but after release Fortnite became the king everyone wanted to dethrone. Popular franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield received their own battle royale modes. It felt like every developer had to put out a similar mode or simply concede the market to Epic Games.

If there was a way to implement such a mode, the developer did so. Some games continue to be successful such as Apex Legends, PUBG and most recently Call of Duty: Warzone. Although, that hasn't stopped Epic Games from continuing to raise the bar.

Take the crossover events Epic Games has done with Fortnite. The Marvel's Avengers event, adding licensed DC characters as cosmetics, an in-game Travis Scott concert, a trailer premiere for Christopher Nolan's Tenet, and the We The People event discussing race in America just to name a few.

Just when people believe Fortnite is dying or dead, Epic Games raises the bar even higher. Fortnite is the gold standard in the genre and has deservedly earned its place as a genre defining game. The ironic thing is that Fortnite didn't even start as a battle royale game. It was originally meant to be a tower defense game. That mode, Save the World, still exists though it pales in comparison to the impact the battle royale has had in the world.

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