The third most popular game right now in terms of active players, Fortnite is a “battle royale” third-person shooter. The game is taking over popular culture with athletes and celebrities posting on social media about their victories. Just last week, rappers Drake and Travis Scott teamed up with NFL wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and number 1 Fortnite player Ninja. Their stream was so popular that over 635,000 viewers were watching it live on Twitch (for context, that’s almost 10 times the number of seats in the New England Patriots’ stadium). Each game starts out with 100 individual players parachuting onto an island filled with loot and continues until there is only 1 player left. Every single player starts on a completely even playing field; you can’t buy weapon upgrades or any in-game advantages. What makes Fortnite stand out are the building mechanics. Every single building, tree, mail truck, and trashcan be destroyed and mined for materials. These materials can then be used to build walls, floors, stairs, and roofs. This adds a variety of playstyles to the game from hiding in bushes and avoiding fights to building massive forts and daring challengers to attack. The game is designed for adrenaline and thrill, constantly triggering the fight or flight response. Because Fortnite is quite literally 1v99, it’s brought a new level of multiplayer interaction and emotions to video games.
