Ah, Fortnite.
The game that has taken over the world, literally.
If you’re asking yourself, “What’s Fortnite?” Then you’ve probably been living under a rock for the last year or so.
Fortnite is EVERYWHERE. From TV shows to sports, to social media, Fortnite has officially taken the everyone by storm. (Storm. Like the storm in the game. Get it?)
Over 40 million players a month and revenues in the billions of dollars.
So, what has made the game so wildly popular?
Well, part of the reason is the game mode. It’s a Battle Royale where you duke it out with 99 other players and the last man standing wins. However, there are other games out there that also feature a Battle Royale style.
By far the most important part of Fortnite’s rise are the personalities who make their living playing it, and the team at Epic Games constantly keeping up with the social world.
By now you’ve probably heard the name, Ninja.
He’s an incredibly talented gamer and personality that has made a killing by playing Fortnite.
Ninja, aka Tyler Blevins, streams Fortnite daily on his Twitch account earning over $500,000 a month just playing the game. His streams feature advertisements from brands that show up on his stream as he plays the game.
He also receives donations from viewers in the form of US dollars and in-game currency.
Ninja has the perfect combination of skill and charm making him as impressive to watch as he is fun.
With 10 million followers on Twitch, Ninja is clear of the second closest streamer by almost seven million. But, his reach doesn’t stop there.
During games, Ninja will encourage others to clip segments and send them to him, as well as clipping games and highlights himself to share on his numerous social media channels.
And his numbers are staggering.
Perhaps even more impressive than his follower numbers are the interactions on his videos, he gets thousands and thousands of comments on everything that he posts.
He’s turned his massive online popularity into live events with brands like Red Bull and YouTube at E3.
Oh, and I almost forgot, there was that one time he played with Drake…
Speaking of Champagne Papi, his viral trend ‘In My Feelings’ made its way to the Fortnite world with this video.
You’ll probably recognize this dance as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ObXcXtHKVg
And this isn’t the first piece of pop culture to make its way into the game. In their seasons, Fortnite has had characters that nod to everything from The Avengers to John Wick.
The game even had a game mode called the ‘Infinity Gauntlet’ featuring Thanos from The Avengers.
Epic Games does an incredible job of creating content that will get people talking, sharing, and engaging on social media drumming up even more attention for the game.
Another initiative for engagement on social and off the gaming platform was the #boogiedown challenge encouraging players to create their own dance to be created in the game.
Thousands of people entered on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram.
And one young man who was not originally named the winner received such an outpouring of support on social media that Fortnite made his entry into a dance anyway.
My man Orange Justice is fire.
Fortnite’s incredible personalities and ability to stay up to date with the trends of social media will only increase the game’s popularity and lead to more great content. What are your thoughts on the Fortnite frenzy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
