Fortnite Accumulates 10 Million Players Thanks To Battle Royale Mode, Developers Claim

Epic Games just announced that the free Battle Royale mode of its survival shooter Fortnite has amassed over 10 million players. This is an astounding number, especially given that the mode was just launched two weeks ago. On that note, this figure comes from the developers and there’s no way to confirm it independently.

Because Fortnite is not on a platform like Steam, which makes tracking video game numbers much easier, publications have no choice but to take Epic Games at their word. As PC Gamer notes, however, it’s unlikely that the developers would be throwing around those kinds of figures lightly.

The most noteworthy aspect of this news, however, is the fact that the Battle Royale mode is responsible for much of the success that Fortnite is seeing now. When the free mode was launched, it was only to be expected that an influx in player numbers would appear. However, it would seem that that pretty much all of the new players are flocking to the game exclusively because of the PUBG-inspired feature.

With this being the case, many publications are now wondering if the publisher of PUBG, Bluehole, will actually follow through on its threats of filing legal action. PUBG recently surpassed 15 million in units sold, Gamerant notes, so it’s not as if Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode is cutting into the game’s profits. However, there is still the matter of money involved.

Those who kept up with the developments as the drama unfolded know that Bluehole’s whole issue with the Fortnite feature was Epic Games’ involvement in creating PUBG. With the free mode doing so well, the publisher might be tempted to push that nuclear button in order to cash in.

Of course, this is all speculation, at this point. With Bluehole being a relatively new addition to the pantheon of major video game publishers, it still deserves the benefit of the doubt.