Compete for millions of dollars weekly, or just play with friends; Once you drop into Fortnite’s battle royale island, the fun never ends.
Fortnite is a battle-royale style video game created by Epic Games. Drop into their map with 99 other players and fight it out until only one player remains. Players can customize their character with skins and emotes that can be bought in Fortnite’s in-game item shop. With almost 250 million players, Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world.
Sophomore AJ Shumba first started playing the game over a year and a half ago, and quit last summer. Shumba played the “Save the World” mode, a mode which was focused more on fighting zombies than other real players. Although the game created great memories for him. “I am not interested in returning,” Shumba said. Sophomore Carter Jones agrees. “No I will not return, because they have taken the game to an unfixable level,” Jones said.
Although only a video game, Fortnite can also create job opportunities. It has helped grow content creators, professional players, esports organizations and others careers. When people hear “professional” and Fortnite in the same sentence they may scoff or laugh out loud. Little do they know, it is a luxurious career. Over 12 fortnite players have won more than a million dollars from tournaments and over 105 players have won over $100,000 from tournaments. And that figure isn’t counting money they also earn from sponsorships, salaries from the teams they are on and money earned by posting their gameplay online.
Back in late July, Epic games held the Fortnite World Cup finals in New York, selling out Arthur Ashe Stadium and bringing in over two million live viewers online. The tournament featured a $30 million prize pool, where everyone who competed took home a minimum prize of $50,000 and over eight players walked home millionaires. Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf tookhome the most prize money of $3 million
Fortnite also enables content creators to succeed. Content creators are players who post or stream their content on platforms such as Twitch or YouTube. Since Fortnite began to gain momentum in early 2018, dozens upon dozens of these content creators have hit millions of followers on social media and can play Fortnite for a living. One of the most known examples of a content creator is Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins. At his peak he had over 200,000 monthly paying subscribers on Twitch. He has earned millions in his career and has gained sponsorships from name brands such as Redbull, Uber Eats, Samsung andmore.
Since launching in July of 2017, Fortnite has had its share of legal problems. Multiple celebrities have tried suing the game for selling their dances in Fortnite’s game item-shop. But, most recently they were sued by a group of parents claiming the game was as addictive as cocaine. Sophomore Serwaa Bosomtwi doesn’t fully agree. “For people 12 and under yes it may be; But for people above that age, than no,” Bosomtwi said.
