What if Fortnite never existed?

Fortnite Battle Royale has become a huge phenomenon—one that further boosted the Battle Royale genre to the juggernaut that is it now in the gaming world. This pioneering game has steadily garnered players all over the world (from youngsters down to adolescents) since its release. It earned a place in e-sports and is now considered as a competitive game that’s easily worth millions of dollars in franchise.

But what if Fortnite didn’t exist in the first place? Would Epic Games be as big as it is today? What would happen to the Battle Royale scene? And more importantly, will it still gain the same amount of success that it now enjoys? Let’s delve into the possibilities.

Will Epic Games still cash in without the help of Fortnite?

Without the help of Fortnite, Epic Games undeniably wouldn’t be as big as it is today. Before making Fortnite, Epic Games simply made side-scrolling games for PC. At the time of Tencent’s acquisition back in 2012 when it purchased 40% of the company’s stake, Epic Games was valued at around $825 million. Since the release of Fortnite Battle Royale on September 26, 2017, the company’s value skyrocketed. In July 2018, Epic Games was estimated to be worth $4.5 billion. Fortnite took Epic Games to new heights, most notably at the end of 2018 where Epic Games was worth a whopping $8 billion following the success of their prized free-to-play Battle Royale game. The success of Fortnite also led to the opening of the Epic Games Store, a PC games distributor that’s considered by others to be a direct competitor to Steam. While it’s definitely not as big and doesn’t have a vast gaming library in comparison to Steam’s 30,000+ games, it just might look to be a contender in the future once it’s gets optimized further.

Without Fortnite, what would become of the Battle Royale Genre?

There are two outcomes to this: Battle Royale would either be a niche genre or an altogether new game will become the leading title.

Fortnite didn’t actually start the Battle Royale sensation—though it sure spurred it on. Rather, it first took off thanks to games like DayZ, H1Z1, and Rust. While PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds) is the first game that’s completely built on the Battle Royale foundation, it’s not the first game to implement it. The genre actually started out as an obscure mod and was further crystallized in many aspects of Battle Royale as a game type. Most probably, the genre wouldn’t be as big as it was after the huge phenomenon of Fortnite, and we might still be playing zombie games today.

If Fortnite didn’t become the leading game for the genre, who will? Luckily, there are some noteworthy games that could serve as a substitute, one of them being PUBG.  PUBG was released before the Fortnite game and went on to become one of the best-selling and most played video games of all time. It bagged billions of dollars, with 40 million copies sold and over 400 million players in total on June 2018. Without Fortnite, PUBG would undoubtedly dominate the Battle Royale scene. There are other contenders for the title as well, such as the fairly new Apex Legends and the budding Realm Royale.

A world without Fortnite: will doom and gloom await the Gaming Community?

Always remember that the gaming community never sleeps. It tirelessly finds new innovations and ideas to keep gamers from getting bored. Even without Fortnite Battle Royale, there are still tons of games that can easily soak up your time—even if it’s not a Battle Royale game. The general public can live without Fortnite. We can’t say the same for Epic Games and pros/streamers that have made a career and a whole lot of profit off of it though. Epic Games has a lot to thank Fortnite for besides bringing in the big bucks. Fortnite cultivated a genre, marked its place in the e-sports industry, and brought in millions of people together. But altogether, while the gaming world may look a little bit glum without Fortnite, it’s not enough to stop it in its tracks.