My friend, if you‘ve played games at all over the last few years, you‘ve likely heard of the phenomenon known as Fortnite. But do you know the story behind where it came from and how it got its name?
As a fellow gaming enthusiast, let me walk you through the fascinating history of Fortnite and its meteoric rise from scrappy indie project to dominating the culture. Grab a controller and let‘s drop in!
Fortnite Began Life as an Ambitious Co-Op Survival Concept
It may surprise you to learn that Fortnite did not debut as a colorful online shooter. Back in 2011, Epic Games envisioned something entirely different – an ambitious cooperative survival game for up to four players.
The basic premise was that 98% of Earth‘s population suddenly vanished, and the few survivors had to band together to outlast hordes of zombie-like husks and anarchic gangs. Players would scavenge for resources, craft weapons and items, build fortified structures, and complete missions together.
The hook was a planned narrative where each in-game mission lasted 14 days, hence the name "Fortnite." From its origins, the title was a play on the term "fortnight," an old English word for a period of 14 days and nights.
After two weeks of fighting to survive, players would move onto a new randomly generated map to do it all again. This core 14-day loop was the heart of the original Fortnite concept.
Fortnite Took Over 6 Years to Develop Before Release
Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney came up with the idea for Fortnite around 2011, shortly after shipping Gears of War 3. The company then spent over six years developing the game in secret before revealing it publicly in late 2011.
With a planned release in 2013, Fortnite was shaping up to be Epic‘s most ambitious title ever. They built Fortnite using their own powerful Unreal Engine 4 technology, allowing for detailed, photorealistic graphics far beyond the studio‘s previous games.
Fortnite was conceived as an open-ended living world rather than a linear, scripted experience. Players could freely harvest resources, build structures, and approach missions how they wanted. A robust crafting system let you make guns, ammo, traps and fort walls from scavenged materials.
Save the World Launched to Positive Reception…But Quickly Stalled
After all that anticipation, Fortnite: Save the World launched in paid early access in July 2017. Initial reception was largely positive, with praise for its stylized graphics, addictive gameplay loop, and approachable building mechanics.
However, after an exciting honeymoon period, Fortnite struggled to retain players. Epic was relying on a paid early access approach to fund ongoing development. But without the massive audience they hoped for, Fortnite couldn‘t get the content updates needed to drive sustained engagement.
By September 2017, barely two months after release, Fortnite was rapidly losing momentum. Savethe-World sales were declining and active players counts dwindling. Things were not looking good for what was meant to be Epic‘s next big franchise.
Epic Scrambled to Quickly Launch a Battle Royale Mode
With the core Fortnite game faltering, Epic had to act quickly to save the project. At the time, the burgeoning battle royale genre was taking off thanks to 2017‘s hits like PlayerUnknown‘s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
Sensing this growing popularity, Epic rapidly developed their own free-to-play battle royale mode for Fortnite. Within just two months, Fortnite Battle Royale launched as a free add-on in September 2017.
This pivot would completely change Fortnite‘s trajectory. While Save the World had stalled out, Battle Royale quickly became a smash hit. The formula of 100 players competing in a massive last-man-standing arena captured lighting in a bottle.
Fortnite Battle Royale Exploded into the Biggest Game in the World
While Fortnite‘s original Save the World mode struggled to find an audience, the Battle Royale add-on immediately caught fire. Within just a few months, tens of millions of players were dropping onto the Fortnite island – and streaming it live to massive viewership.
Here are some key stats that highlight just how quickly Fortnite Battle Royale grew:
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10 million players in just 2 weeks after launch in Sept 2017
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40 million players by Jan 2018, just 4 months after launch
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125 million players by June 2018, surpassing even the top AAA franchises
No other game has skyrocketed to popularity as rapidly as Fortnite Battle Royale. Epic‘s gamble to jump on the battle royale bandwagon paid off in spades. Fortnite was suddenly a household name and inescapable cultural phenomenon.
Fortnite Had the Right Formula to Capture a Massive Audience
So just why did Fortnite blow up when other games failed to reach escape velocity? It came down to a perfect formula to capture the maximum audience:
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Free-to-play: By removing any cost barrier, anyone could download and try this hot new game their friends were playing.
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Accessible gameplay: Easy to pick up but hard to master, Fortnite struck a balance appealing to casual and hardcore gamers alike.
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Constant updates: New content kept players engaged – fresh Battle Pass rewards each season, new items, weapons, map changes and live events.
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Multi-platform: Available on PC, consoles, and mobile devices meant you could play with all your friends in one shared world.
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Vibrant social experience: Squad play, emotes, and skins encouraged social engagement well beyond just the core gameplay.
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Influencer/streamer buzz: Top streamers like Ninja brought it mainstream attention; watching was as big as playing.
Lightning had been bottled. Fortnite captured the perfect gameplay formula, engagement loop, and network effects to become a self-sustaining cultural juggernaut almost overnight.
Fortnite vs PUBG: How Epic‘s Title Won the Battle Royale War
For years, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) had been the undisputed king of the emerging battle royale genre. But almost overnight Fortnite came to completely dominate the category that PUBG pioneered.
What led to Fortnite so rapidly overtaking PUBG in both players and cultural impact? Here‘s a comparison of the key differences that gave Fortnite the edge:
| Fortnite | PUBG | |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Sept 2017 (F2P) | Dec 2016 (paid early access) |
| Business Model | Free-to-play w/ in-game purchases | Pay-to-play purchase required |
| Graphics Style | Vivid color cartoony | Gritty realistic |
| Learning Curve | Fast and accessible | Steep and punishing |
| Game Modes | Just Battle Royale | Battle Royale plus additional modes |
| Platforms | PC, Console, Mobile | Mostly PC/console, late to mobile |
| Developer | Epic Games | Small studio, Bluehole |
| Post-Launch Support | Frequent updates and content | Slower development cycle |
| Social/Streaming | Encouraged engagement and streaming | Less focus on community aspects |
Epic made smart moves by jumping on the battle royale trend early, making Fortnite free-to-play, and taking a games-as-a-service approach. This let them grow faster, engage a bigger community, and outmaneuver PUBG.
Fortnite Save the World Continues Quietly in the Background
With Battle Royale dominating the spotlight, what became of the original Save the World game that started it all? Development continues at a slow pace, with periodic updates and new content.
Save the World remains a paid early access title, now receiving just a fraction of Epic‘s focus. Many core issues remain unresolved years later. Yet it retains a small, dedicated player base even within Fortnite’s long shadow.
For long-time fans who were there from the beginning, Save the World represents what Fortnite could have been in an alternate timeline. It laid the groundwork that made Battle Royale possible.
This classic cooperative Fortnite experience that never quite took off is now like a museum piece immortalizing the series‘ origins.
The Runaway Success of Fortnite Upended the Industry
Far exceeding Epic‘s expectations, Fortnite‘s explosion into the zeitgeist changed gaming and wider culture in profound ways:
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It demonstrated how a live game could become a long-running social platform that evolves over time. Fortnite is an experience constantly updated with events, narrative, and cross-overs.
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It showed the potential of free-to-play to build huge audiences when done right. Fortnite makes mountains of money from optional cosmetic purchases rather than paywalls.
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It paved the way for other shooters adding Battle Royale modes, like Call of Duty Warzone – vastly increasing interest in the BR format.
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Its popularity turned "emotes" into a mainstream idea, now common in other games and apps.
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It became a social media platform and virtual hangout space just as much as a game. Concerts, movie trailers, brand events…it was the new digital town square.
What had humble beginnings as an indie co-op survival game reshaped gaming and internet culture at large on a global scale rarely seen.
The Name "Fortnite" Harkens Back to Its Survival Roots
Like any overnight success, it can be easy to forget Fortnite‘s origins as something totally different. So where did the name “Fortnite” itself come from?
As we discussed earlier, it was a play on “fortnight” – an old word for a 14 day period. This tied directly back to the original core gameplay loop of trying to survive 14 day missions by building fortified bases.
The name “Fortnite” was born from that initial vision – holding out against the storms for just 14 more nights. Of course, the meteoric rise of Fortnite Battle Royale made the name ubiquitous for entirely different reasons.
But it remains a neat bit of trivia pointing back to what first inspired Epic Games to create their industry-shaking behemoth. While much has changed, the name itself preserves that nugget of history in amber.
Fortnite Evolved From Scrappy Underdog to Dominant Juggernaut
When looking at how massive Fortnite is today, it‘s truly remarkable to consider where it came from. Originally a struggling co-op survival shooter in imminent danger of failing, a last-ditch battle royale mode changed everything.
What followed was a rags-to-riches tale for the history books. Fortnite captured lightning in a bottle, spreading like wildfire to become the most popular game on Earth. In seemingly no time at all, it has become a pillar of youth culture and generated billions in revenue.
But in getting caught up in Fortnite‘s dominance, it‘s easy to forget just how unlikely its meteoric rise really was. Few could have predicted the struggling passion project from a mid-sized studio would grow to topple even the mightiest franchises. Yet Fortnite rewritten the script, and its name is now spoken in the same breath as legends like Minecraft and World of Warcraft.
While its origins may be rooted in fortifying against hordes of zombies, Fortnite now conjures images of flashy emotes, elite esports pros, and pop culture crossovers. By adapting quickly and intelligently harnessing emerging trends, Epic took a big swing that paid off beyond their wildest dreams.
Thanks for sticking with me on this journey through Fortnite’s captivating backstory and meteoric rise to glory. Let me know if you have any other questions – I could talk all day about gaming history and design! Now if you‘ll excuse me, I have a Battle Bus to catch. See you on the island!
