Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Fortnite - Statistics & Facts
As of 2025, it is hard to imagine a world of online gaming without Fortnite. The cross-platform game has grown into a cultural phenomenon and played a large role in the rise of video game live streaming. It offers many different gameplay modes, the most well-known and popular being Fortnite Battle Royale. Most recently, parent company and publisher Epic Games reported more than 650 million Fortnite accounts, highlighting Fortnite鈥檚 ambitions as a virtual environment beyond its core gameplay.
Along with its direct competitor PUBG (2017), Fortnite is still the leading game in the battle royale genre, where several players compete against each other to be the last person standing. Other major titles in this segment include Garena Free Fire (2017), Apex Legends (2019), Call of Duty: Warzone (2020), and Naraka: Bladepoint (2021). Fortnite is still one of the highest-grossing and most downloaded free-to-play (F2P) video games worldwide.
Launched in December 2023, Lego Fortnite instantly became a hit. Lego Fortnite is a sandbox survival gameplay mode where users can gather resources and create weapons on the map. That month also saw the launch of Fortnite: Rocket Racing, a racing game collaboration with the developers of Rocket League, as well as Fortnite Festival, a rhythm-based game. In December 2024, five-on-five, round-based tactical shooter Fortnite Ballistic was released. This mode marked Fortnite鈥檚 entry into the FPS shooter segment and brought the total of distinct gameplay modes to seven.
While onboarding of creators was initially slow due to technical difficulties, Fortnite鈥檚 creator economy grew significantly in 2024. Fortnite reported a total of 70,000 creators at the end of the year, up from 24,000 creators in 2023. In the most recently reported year, 173,000 islands (Fortnite gameplay experiences) were created by users in the UEFN. Annual Fortnite creator payout in 2024 amounted to 352 million U.S. dollars.
With increasing creator support and monetization opportunities, Fortnite is now becoming more and more attractive for third-party developers. As user-generated content is a core aspect of virtual worlds and metaverse aspirations, Fortnite is looking to solidify its position in the virtual space beyond gaming.
Battle royale 鈥 the gaming trend of the late 2010s
Fortnite Battle Royale was released in early access in September 2017, with a full release in June 2020. After its release Fortnite became one of the most popular and successful battle royale games in the world, mainly due to two factors: First, the genre was on the rise due to several other popular titles which were also already on the market. Secondly, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic made video gaming part of mainstream entertainment and lured many new players into trying out battle royal games as well.Along with its direct competitor PUBG (2017), Fortnite is still the leading game in the battle royale genre, where several players compete against each other to be the last person standing. Other major titles in this segment include Garena Free Fire (2017), Apex Legends (2019), Call of Duty: Warzone (2020), and Naraka: Bladepoint (2021). Fortnite is still one of the highest-grossing and most downloaded free-to-play (F2P) video games worldwide.
Game mode development towards platform expansion
While user and viewer engagement with Fortnite is lower than at the height of its success, developer Epic Games is investing to expand Fortnite鈥檚 footprint among gamers and keep it relevant. In addition to the original gameplay modes Fortnite Save the World (cooperative player-versus-environment title), Fortnite Battle Royale (player-versus-player), and Fortnite Creative (sandbox game mode in which players can create and personalize their own islands with Fortnite items and gameplay modes), the game has also seen several additional major releases in 2023 and 2024.Launched in December 2023, Lego Fortnite instantly became a hit. Lego Fortnite is a sandbox survival gameplay mode where users can gather resources and create weapons on the map. That month also saw the launch of Fortnite: Rocket Racing, a racing game collaboration with the developers of Rocket League, as well as Fortnite Festival, a rhythm-based game. In December 2024, five-on-five, round-based tactical shooter Fortnite Ballistic was released. This mode marked Fortnite鈥檚 entry into the FPS shooter segment and brought the total of distinct gameplay modes to seven.
Epic metaverse aspirations
Fortnite has hosted several high-profile in-game events which have drawn millions of participants worldwide and are also immensely popular on streaming platforms. In November 2024, Fortnite hosted a livestreamed concert featuring Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice from Times Square as part of its event at the finale of the then-ending Remix season. The concert was a massive success, drawing 14.3 million in-game viewers. Attending live events is one of the most popular non-gaming activities within video games and is a significant factor in onboarding users to Fortnite鈥檚 wider ecosystem beyond core gaming.Spotlight: Fortnite creator content is growing
In March 2023, Epic introduced the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), a dedicated Windows editor. UEFN enables creators to utilize the Unreal Editor, incorporating the Epic-owned Unreal Engine 5 features and Fortnite assets to craft new modes within Fortnite Creative.While onboarding of creators was initially slow due to technical difficulties, Fortnite鈥檚 creator economy grew significantly in 2024. Fortnite reported a total of 70,000 creators at the end of the year, up from 24,000 creators in 2023. In the most recently reported year, 173,000 islands (Fortnite gameplay experiences) were created by users in the UEFN. Annual Fortnite creator payout in 2024 amounted to 352 million U.S. dollars.
With increasing creator support and monetization opportunities, Fortnite is now becoming more and more attractive for third-party developers. As user-generated content is a core aspect of virtual worlds and metaverse aspirations, Fortnite is looking to solidify its position in the virtual space beyond gaming.
