Wow! … who says there’s no money in gaming!
A report from analyst firm Superdata has put in perspective the craze regarding Battle Royale-type games. Fortnite, developed by EPIC, is now estimated to have earned more than $1 billion in revenue since its launch last year. And it all seems to be going uphill – the game earned some $304 million in May alone solely on its in-game microtransactions, a 4% increase over the still impressive $296 million figure in April. Consider that EPIC only added the Battle Royale game mode last September, and the voracious pace of revenue increase becomes obvious – just the months of May and April account for more than half of the $1 billion being reported here.
Make no mistake: like in all things, there will be an inevitable tumble in popularity and revenue as the game ages, even if it has just now entered its fifth season. However, the rhythm at which funds are flowing into EPIC’s coffers will surely enable an even bigger, more impressive experience come Fortnite’s successor, which you can bet will be ready to pick up the slack once revenue slows down. It becomes hard not to justify developers’ options towards developing these kinds of games over others – it really does seem to be this is where most money’s at.
Source: Superdata, PCGamesN via TPU
