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‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’ Becomes Top Free-To-Play Console Game, Epic Drops Heroic Hint For Season 4

By Scott Grill
Published on: 09:00 PST, Apr 26, 2018

Fortnite: Battle Royale has quickly proven that being first to market does not always translate into big sales. Epic Games’ spin on the 100-player last man standing has officially become the largest free-to-play console game of all time, according to market intelligence firm SuperData, and is racking up impressive numbers on the PC and iOS as well. It also appears the action will further heat up with an impending meteor strike and the start of Season 4.

SuperData’s analysis of the worldwide digital games market for March 2018 shows continued growth in the segment, with consumers spending $8.9 billion globally across PC, console, and mobile platforms. Fortnite, in particular, racked up more than $223 million across all platforms for the month and showed a 73 percent growth through February.

The astounding growth of Fortnite: Battle Royale can be attributed to the fact that its free-to-play nature means the barrier to entry is extremely low. However, the start of Season 3 with the John Wick skin as part of the Battle Pass, combined with hip-hop artist Drake playing the game on Twitch with a record number of viewers helped put Epic Games’ cartoonish multiplayer shooter at the top of the heap.

This perfect storm of events has led to Fortnite: Battle Royale becoming the largest free-to-play console game of all time in both revenue and monthly active users, per SuperData. Plus the shooter bested PUBG on PC and hit the top revenue spot on iOS in the United States.

But Wait, There’s More

Epic Games has been adding content, improving performance, and fixing Fortnite: Battle Royale on a regular schedule with the occasional hiccup thrown in due to the game’s stupendous growth. The developer is still gearing up for something notable as a meteor impact is imminent. The map has been updated with TVs broadcasting a test platform and Tilted Towers has become littered with signs on sticks warning of the impact and possible UFOs.

Fortnite Season 3 is scheduled to end on Monday, April 30 and Season 4 will likely start around the same time. Whether the meteor crashes into the map at the same time or slightly before is naturally of interest. However, Epic appears to have done a clever bit of marketing as a new Twitter post hints at a superhero-theme on the same day Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters.

The Season 4 poster clearly shows a masked hero and the orange splash can be interpreted as a meteor burning through the atmosphere. Whatever happens, it looks like it will arrive in just a few days.

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