The popularity of the battle royale genre really skyrocketed with the release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), but it seems like one of its biggest competition, Fortnite, will be overtaking the game in terms of revenue in the coming months.
According to game analytics firm SuperData Research, in the month of February 2018 alone, Fortnite made $126 million (about RM493 million) in revenue. PUBG, on the other hand, raked in $103 million (around RM403 million). PUBG still made a sizeable amount of revenue, of course, but this is the first time Fortnite pulled in more monthly revenue.
There are a number of reasons that contribute to Fortnite’s success. Most notably, it is a free-to-play game, while PUBG costs RM74.99 on the Steam store. Much like PUBG, Fortnite also offers cosmetic items players can purchase, which is one of the main sources of income for the title. Evidently, Epic Games’ approach with Fortnite’s in-game purchases is more effective than PUBG.
And then there’s also accessibility. In comparison to PUBG, Fortnite is playable on PC, Xbox One, as well as PlayStation 4. Not only did Fortnite launch on consoles earlier, PUBG isn’t even available on Sony’s console right now.
But PUBG does have one advantage over Fortnite right now: its mobile port, which was widely released earlier this week. It remains to be seen if Fortnite can continue its momentum, but considering its popularity – and the eventual public release of its own mobile port – PUBG may not be the most dominant battle royale game anymore.
(Source: SuperData Research via The Verge)
