Fortnite is Generating More Revenue Than Any Other Free Game Ever (recode.net)

Fortnite: Battle Royale has brought in more revenue in a single month than any other game of its kind, industry estimates suggest. Recode: The free-to-play game hit a new revenue record of $318 million in May, according to SuperData Research. That puts Fornite well ahead of other breakout games like Pokemon Go and Clash of Clans, and it's all the more spectacular when you realize the multi-platform game launched on consoles just eight months ago and on iOS just three months ago. Since then, Fortnite has brought in more than $1.2 billion in revenue, all of which comes from nonessential in-app purchases, for stuff like clothing and dance moves.

Comments

Re: "free"

[Anonymous Coward]

Well fortnite is as legit free to play as it gets. I don't like the game but can't knock their business model.

Plenty of children using parents money..

[Anonymous Coward]

..for $20 cosmetic items. Yeah, as in two-zero.... ten plus ten.

People that work at gamestop cant believe how many kids are dragging their parents in just to purchase these gift cards that let you buy skins.

Not to mention the fact that the game is on nearly every platform now. It's a digital clothing store in the form of a video game.

It's also pretty fun. I grew tired of it fairly quickly, but I'd never say it's a bad game. When you consider epic is pouring all their resources into it, it better be doing okay

Re:Plenty of children using parents money..

[Oswald McWeany]

It's a digital clothing store in the form of a video game.

So in many ways it's a virtual dress-up doll. All these teenage and pre-teen boys are paying money for a virtual Barbie (with a gun).

Fortnight claims to gameplay advantage but...

[SuperKendall]

So to start with, I think Fortnight is doing this free to play right. You can truly play as much as you like, any items you can buy are pretty much just fun graphical enhancements for your avatar.

However I would quibble slightly that the graphics only re-skins give a small advantage - simply from a camo standpoint, if you buy a darker outfit you are going to be harder to see from a distance against the landscape or in a shadow. Almost all of the really good players I've seen have darker outfits... with the occasional exception of someone showing off wearing a hot pink teddy bear or something else really vibrant.

Re:Why have we let ourselves come to this?

[mikael]

Some people may not have the ground space, energy, or money to afford a real landscaped garden, mansion home, or even toy railway set, but they are happy with a virtual version that they can upgrade in their spare time.

Re:Why have we let ourselves come to this?

[war4peace]

Good for you to have strong opinions. Me, i'm not sure anyone is more right then the next person as far as entertainment is concerned.
Person A might spend 100 grand on a really nice sports car. Person B might spend 10 grand on Fortnite cosmetics. "A friend" spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 grand on World of Tanks since 2011 - and still does buy premium tanks "for collecting purposes". Meanwhile person C loaned money over and over and spent them on trips all over the world, now he's proper fucked by banks. All while person D poured tons of alcohol down their guts and person E smoked their lungs to Hell and back. And the list can go on forever.

None is better than the other, they simply spend their money on whatever floats their boat. Small condo and pixel-rich versus big mansion and never played any PC games, there's no objective difference.