Fortnite players now number more than 350 million

Fortnite continues to grow as this worldwide battle royale phenomenon becomes the new defacto Esports title of the early 2020s, with new player counts pinned at somewhere in the region of 350 million. That is registered players, rather than active ones, so there’s a good chance that several tens of millions no longer play, but That’s still a rise of more than 150 million in just over a year and a half, which is staggering growth for any game, let alone a competitive shooter.

But Fortnite has hit all of the right points in its continued development. It’s free to play; easy to pick up and learn, but hard to master; has ever evolving content, including new events and items; a clever bot and tutorial system; a heavy presence among streamers; ubiquitous cross platform play among every single device type you can imagine, and a microtransaction system that keeps the game exceedingly profitable without killing its fun.

A global pandemic forcing everyone inside probably doesn’t hurt, either.

Epic continues to expand Fortnite play into new directions too, with the upcoming launch of its Fortnite Party Royale experience, which will see DJs Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5 all perform inside the game for fans. It’ll take place in the new “weapon free” queue, so no one will be able to murder everyone just for stopping to listen to the music. It’s set to take place on May 8 and 9PM Eastern.

This is unlikely to be the end of Fortnite’s event schedule, but suggests that it may be evolving into as much a social tool as a competitive game. It could become the game of all games.

Will you be attending the premiere?