Battle Royale in 2018 - Fortnite or PUBG?

Last year, on March 19, PUBG was released worldwide and redefined the Battle Royale genre. Quickly, the title gained a tremendous amount of support through Twitch, Youtube, Social Media and funds, breaking quite a few records. It's safe to say that PUBG dominated 2017 in many aspects; it was something new, exciting and challenging which everyone was having a go at. However, this genre wouldn't remain unchallenged for long as Fortnite crawled into the scene along with 2018. Since then, PUBG has declined and Fortnite: Battle Royale has been thriving. Here's my take on the situation. 

First of all, we need to clear things up. Those who enjoy Fortnite do not necessarily despise PUBG and vice-versa; as many are those who have tried to create a sort of feud between the two titles. Yes, they are similar, but far from the same game. A comparison like this reminds me of many comparisons between Battlefield and Call of Duty. PUBG is the battle royale for the serious competitors, competing against others on the PC platforms in a realistic environment with gore and vehicles. Fornite on the other hand, is the battle royale for the less serious gamers, having a more arcade-like feel with a different reality which I wouldn't describe as childish; available to all gamers on all platforms. Verticality, wacky guns, dances and trending ideas are what make Fortnite unique. Wins here will be a little easier, undoubtedly, as the game is available to more gamers, meaning that more youngsters and less skilled players will be playing. Fortnite and PUBG satisfy two different sets of niche within the gaming industry, though when one looks at the current statistics, they are not as you would expect. 

Fortnite: Battle Royale was developed in just two months, and it seems to be blowing PUBG out of the water in terms of statistics. Shockingly, the free-to-play title is making more money than PUBG, which sells for $30 a piece. Last year, PUBG sold over 30 million copies but has made less money during February. Fortnite's funds all derive from in-game purchases, which the community is definitely on-board with. The month of February has also seen Fortnite break multiple Twitch records and surpass PUBG, with a recent record having over 1 million concurrent viewers over on one single Fortnite stream! Take a look at the graph below. 

The numbers have Fortnite sitting at 14 million unique Twitch viewers while PUBG sits at almost half of that with 8.7 million. These games have been pivotal to Twitch's success in the past months, as other platforms such as Facebook and Youtube struggle to keep up. I'm sure that many content creators who used to play PUBG are currently playing Fortnite. Many content creators across YouTube especially are making their transition and trying to benefit from the recent attention. 

Why is Fortnite the top Battle Royale at the moment?

It's simple really. Being free-to-play on all platforms, including mobile, makes the title incredibly attractive to play for all ages just because it's free. On console, one doesn't require the online subscriptions to enjoy the online mode which is huge. Cross-platform gameplay, which is still under development, makes the player base huge and interconnected with one another. The in-game purchases are extremely attractive to many gamers who'd usually spend at least $30 to enjoy a similar game. The contemporary coverage, on-going updates and coverage of social media trends is what makes Fortnite a thriving game. PUBG is at a low-point at the moment, but this doesn't mean it cannot come back. It needs to get something going, something huge, in order to retain its crown as the King of Battle Royale. Although they've just created a mobile game themselves, recent reports of lobbies filled with bots have been quite detrimental to the title's name, as I personally deleted it after a game of not being shot at. The two games are not in direct competition with one another, but they certainly have an effect on the other's performance. 

How long will Fortnite keep this up?

If EpicGames continues to push new content and game modes, such as the 5-teams of 20 or the sniper modes, for content creators and consumers to enjoy, then this game can keep going further. Continuous innovation is what EpicGames need to keep the rollercoaster riding higher, just like they have been doing for the past few months. Also, the social aspect of Fortnite just seems to better as the title is less serious so there's more fun to be had in general. 

Conclusion

It's difficult to compare PUBG and Fortnite in terms of gameplay. What I've done is used recent numbers to comment about the titles' performances at the moment. Neither is better than the other as they are two different games for two different audiences, which tend to overlap in certain areas - it's this demographic which are swapping between the two. Personally, I enjoy the two of them, with the little time I've played of each but overall I'm content at one common point which the games are tackling. Thanks to their efforts, mobile gaming will probably change in 2018. Hopefully, more developers will invest in the mobile gaming industry to port their AAA titles over - this is a possibility which I'm really excited for. 

Also, both titles are new possibilities for battle royale to grow as a competitive genre in general, with PUBG already starting out with some Major events. Fortnite is yet to tread here. 

We're sure that most of you in the audience is enthusiastic about these titles. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!