How free game Fortnite, with skins and cosmetics that players love, made over a billion dollars in five months
One of the world’s most popular games right now, Fortnite is free to play but pulls in hundreds of millions a month from players who want to give their characters things like bunny costumes, funky dance moves and Top Gun outfits
For Brendan Hickey, purchasing custom features for his character in the online game Fortnite was about standing out.
His character can now do the electro shuffle, eat popcorn, dribble a basketball and swing a “plunja” pickaxe. But does any of this help the 22-year-old jump to the next level, get more lives or give him an advantage in fighting his opponents in one of the world’s most popular online games? Nope.
The money he has shelled out on Fortnite purchases since last October – which he estimates at between US$140 and US$160 – simply sets his character apart visually when he’s in the game and helps him bond with friends that also play the online contest.
“It’s the first time we’ve all been excited to get on and play Xbox together,” says Hickey, a recent graduate from the University of Connecticut in the US who says his friends are getting ready to disperse around the country. “It’s the same as going out and getting a beer or getting a bite to eat with the guys.”
He has company. Fortnite’s 125 million players have made it the highest-grossing free-to-play game in history. Everyone from athletes and celebrities to school-age kids drop onto the game’s brightly coloured maps every day, battling to outlast each match’s 99 other opponents, with many spending money to customise their characters.
