Epic Games’ Fortnite has been top dog in the battle royale genre since its release back in 2017, but could CoD knock Fortnite down the charts and begin a new reign of fun for teenagers everywhere?
As of current data, Fortnite reached its peak viewership in August of 2018 with a total of 78.3 million players; a year later, that viewership count was down to 250 million players. 250 million is still a viewer count to brag about and still dubs Fortnite as the king of the genre, but it may have a new rival this year with the release of Call of Duty: Warzone, Activision’s foray into the battle royale genre. Call of Duty experienced a surge in players with 50 million downloads within its first month, similar to Apex Legends‘ growth in the wake of its release last year. Although, Apex Legends peaked within its initial months after launch (at 25 million players) before plateauing later in the year. Only time will tell if Call of Duty follows that same pattern. For now, Fortnite is still king, but they’re on a shaky throne.
The battle royale genre has bombarded gaming communities with storms in the past few years with the classics like Player Unknowns: Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite staying strong with millions of players as well as newcomers like Apex Legends and Call of Duty (CoD) drawing attention with their own styles of gameplay. While CoD could be considered a household name among gamers, Apex Legends‘ immersive backstories and stylish characters make it a favorite for more light-hearted gamers, and being free-to-play definitely helps attract gamers on a budget; it currently has two maps that rotate between each other in which its players face off. CoD, on the other hand, tries a more realistic style set in a fictional, Cold War-era city with gritty streets and an atmospheric tone, giving players a sense for modern imperialism. Who doesn’t love some senseless violence to tune out your mind to the real-world violence outside our front door?
