Fortnite hits new record monthly player count of 78 million

The Fortnite phenomenon shows little sign of abating as its developer Epic Games announced that August was the battle royale game’s ‘biggest month yet’, with 78.3 million players logging in to play across all platforms.

Fortnite’s player count has been growing exponentially since its release in September 2017. The company had previously revealed in June of this year that over 125 million people had played Fortnite, with 40 million active players each month.

It is thought the August spike is in large part due to the game releasing on Android phones and tablets in addition to players on consoles, iOS devices and PCs.

The huge player count is largely down to Fortnite being available to play for free. However, the game has also become hugely profitable through in-game purchases of cosmetic upgrades for your character.

Fortnite has earned a reported $1.2bn during its lifetime, with Superdata saying that the game broke the record for free-to-play earnings in a single month in May with revenue of $318.3m.

While Fortnite’s profits have slowed since that May peak, the release of the Android version and the August player record could see revenues rise again. Chinese technology giant Tencent, which has a 40% stake in the $8bn rated Epic, is also waiting for a licence to release Fortnite in China after a bureaucratic shakeup delayed new games being released in the hugely lucrative market. Analysts predict that Fortnite will make $2bn by the end of the year.

For the uninitiated, Fortnite is a cartoonish Battle Royale game that drops 100 combatants onto a large map. The players must then scavenge weapons on the battlefield to fight off other players as the map size shrinks, the last person standing is the winner.

The game has become a cultural phenomenon, with celebrity backing from musical artists such as Drake and footballers like Dele Alli. French striker Antoine Greizmann mimicked the ‘Take the L’ celebration dance from the game after he scored in the World Cup final.

Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, the world's best known professional Fortnite player who commands 18 million subscribers on YouTube, was the first esports athlete to feature on the front cover of ESPN magazine this month.

Fortnite keeps its players engaged with constant updates and ‘Seasons’ that follow certain narrative themes. Season 5 is drawing to a close, as a mysterious purple cube moved across the the map, much to players discussion. Season 6 is due to begin at the end of the month, bringing new skins and celebrations. And more opportunity for its creators to build on its revenue.