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Free To Play, Expensive To Love: 'Fortnite' Changes Video Game Business (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: To see the storm that online video game "Fortnite" has unleashed on the world, just visit Jett Sacher in Brooklyn. The 13-year-old spends an hour or two every day on the game with his friends and is not afraid to spend his pocket money on it - bit by bit. "So I bought one dance, two skins and the battle pass," Sacher told Reuters TV about recent gaming sessions. "So that's, I spent $20 on both skins so $40 ... and the dance was another $10 so $50, 60 bucks, something like that."

Sacher's pay-as-you-go expenditure on dressing up his online avatar in the 'free-to-play' game helped "Fortnite" take in an estimated $223 million from in-game purchases in March, according to Joost Van Dreunen at research firm SuperData. "Fortnite," a sort of hybrid of "The Hunger Games" and "Minecraft," drops 100 people onto an island to fight each other for survival. It is a game-changer in the industry, analysts have said, because of the huge revenue it is making from "tween" and teenage boys purchasing outfits and other add-ons. Its publisher, Epic Games, is now worth $4.5 billion, according to an estimate.
Further reading: Gamers are the new stars. Esports arenas are the new movie theaters (The New York Times).

3 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Are you from 2005? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because free-to-play and making money on cosmetics has been around for several years. You speak of it as if it's a new phenomena.

    1. Re:Are you from 2005? by higuita · · Score: 5, Insightful

      steam made tons of money selling hats in team fortress 2, so yes, this is not new indeed.

      As long as this things are cosmetic, i'm fine with it... if they give a advantage, it is Pay2Win ... sadly many games are going to the latest and those that do not pay always lose

      --
      Higuita
  2. Re:So glad by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 5, Informative

    > Minecraft (win 10)

    *facepalm*

    You are doing it wrong.

    Play the Java version which is free of all that bullshit.