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COBECON C31

The Demand of Fortnite Batle Royale – Draft

Fortnite Battle Royale is an online shooting game where 100 players, solos or in teams,

battle to remain the “last man standing”. Melcon (2018) mentioned that Epic Games, the developer,

released the game in 2017 and as of now, the battle royale game is downloaded by millions of

users on PC, Playstation 4, XBOX One, Nintendo Switch, and even on mobile phones. But the

question to be answered is why Fortnite Battle Royale is very much in-demand nowadays

compared to other games, such as their rival PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)?

Figure 1 - Shift in the Demand Curve

Pettinger (2017), Shift in Demand, digital image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retrieved from https://www.economicshelp.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/06/shift-in-demand.jpg

One of the main reasons of the demand of Fortnite is that it’s a free-to-play. If related to

the Law of Demand and its curve from Figure 1, a product that is free will truly yield a higher

demand. Most ask how Fortnite earns, and according to Fortney (2018), the answer is through

microtransactions whereas other developers sell their games themselves, either through hard copy

or digital versions. Intelligence Economics (n.d.) explains microtransactions as virtual in-game

purchases where players get additional content. In Fortnite’s case, these include skins or

characters, emotes, and other items through their own in-game currency called “V-Bucks”.

Through these, Fortnite currently has 200 million plus players as the demand had a massive growth

throughout 2018. In addition, Fortnite also had a huge difference against PUBG when it comes to

revenues in less than a year of comparison as interpreted from Edison Trends (2018) and that their

players spend almost $100 every season according to Henry (2018) in which these can be seen in

the following graphs.

Figure 2 - Fortnite Users in 2018

Richter (2018), Fortnite Gained 150+ Million Users in 2018 (So Far), digital image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/chart/16239/number-of-registered-fortnite-players/
 Figure 3 - Fortnite and PUBG Revenues

Edison (2018), Fortnite and PUBG Revenues, digital image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retreived from
https://medium.com/edison-discovers/fortnites-v-bucks-drove-110-monthly-revenue-growth-in-h1-2018-acbc7ce9aaa3

Figure 4 - Fortnite Player Spending Average

Henry (2018), Fortnite: Here's How Much Players Spend on Average, digital image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retrieved from
https://gamerant.com/fortnite-player-spending-average/
 Though the prices of the contents remain the same for a specific item, there would still be

demand shifts in the curve such as in Figure 1. The reason is either the products increase in

popularity or because of seasonal factors where these are determinant examples in an article from

Economics Help (2017). In the part of popularity increase, Timothy O’Shea (2019) stated in his

CNN Business interview that the developing and releasing of new content when it comes to free-

to-play games is crucial and that Epic Games keeping Fortnite fresh has made them profitable. In

addition from his interview, these new contents sometimes vary as well depending on the seasons

as there would be items in the virtual market and/or events that are designed for Christmas,

Halloween, and even their birthday or Fortnite’s 1st year anniversary. Furthermore, the new

contents every Fortnite season, which lasts for about three months, would also include unique

stories such as a rocket launch, a sudden appearance of a moving giant cube, or widening of a

crack in the sky which attracts the players’ attention as these kind of events happen live in a specific

time. They also release a new Battle Pass every new season which adds to their revenue where if

players purchase, Telfer (n.d.) mentioned that they could get exclusive rewards throughout the

season by accomplishing challenges that are revealed every week. These explain why Fortnite is

on top when it comes to –free-to-play games.

Figure 5 - Free-to-Play Games Revenues

Richter (2019), Fortnite Made Billions in 2018 Despite Being Free to Play, digital
image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/chart/16687/top-10-free-to-play-games/
 Figure 6 - Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

Business Jargons (n.d.), Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, digital image, accessed March 3, 2019, Retrieved from
https://businessjargons.com/law-of-diminishing-marginal-utility.html

There was also a time when Fortnite didn’t escape the Law of Marginal Utility. According

to Tassi (2019) from Forbes, even though Fortnite had great revenue in December 2018, it dropped

by nearly 50% the following month. The reason besides the selling of their season 7 Battle Pass

was in December, the content in the virtual market wasn’t attractive and that the new Ice Storm

event was said to be a “refresh” of their Halloween event that featured zombies. In this case,

purchases and the number of players for the month dropped, which could then be related to the

total utility curve in Figure 5. But, the author added that Epic Games made up for the loss and

hosted a live Marshmello concert in February 2019 as they recorded another 10 million users after

the event, then generated revenue since it came with selling of Marshmello themed character items.

As of today, Fortnite is in their 8th season and Epic Games continues to formulate new

strategies, especially now that new competitors emerge as threats. Tassi (2019) added that they are

giving the new Battle Pass for free as a reward if a player completes a set of challenges before

season seven ends. This is a bold move since a huge part of their revenue also include the

microtransaction of the Battle Pass. But, it was stated that it could increase the gamers’ playing

time, they would be more aggressive in buying from the virtual store, and influenced to purchase

tier boosts for the Battle Pass. If the people from Epic Games continue to innovate and use their

brilliant minds, Fortnite will continue to reign as it is even setting revenue and user records

nowadays that is shaping the video game industry.

 References

Agarwal, P. (2017, December 20). Economics of Microtransactions in Video Games. Retrieved

from https://www.intelligenteconomist.com/economics-of-microtransactions/

CNN Business. (2019, February 13). Gaming’s paradox: Free games are big money makers [Video

File]. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/02/13/gaming-

industry-activision-fortnite-timothy-oshea.cnn-business/video/playlists/business-markets-

investing/

Edison (2018, July 31). Fortnite’s V-Bucks Drove 110% Monthly Revenue Growth in H1 2018.

Retrieved from https://medium.com/edison-discovers/fortnites-v-bucks-drove-110-

monthly-revenue-growth-in-h1-2018-acbc7ce9aaa3

Fortney, L. (2018, December 28). How Does Fortnite Make Money?. Retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-does-fortnite-make-money/

Henry, J. (2018, July). Fortnite: Here’s How Much Players Spend on Average. Retrieved from

https://gamerant.com/fortnite-player-spending-average/

Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://businessjargons.com/law-of-

diminishing-marginal-utility.html

Melcon, A. (2018, October 1). Fortnite Battle Royale: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved

from https://www.tomsguide.com/us/fortnite-battle-royale-faq,news-25928.html

Pettinger, T. (2017, June 18). Shift in Demand and Movement along Demand Curve. Retrieved

from https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/581/economics/changes-in-demand/
Richter, F. (2018, November 18). Fortnite Gained 150+ Million Users in 2018 (So Far). Retrieved

from https://www.statista.com/chart/16239/number-of-registered-fortnite-players/

Richter, F. (2019, January 17). Fortnite Made Billions in 2018 Despite Being Free to Play.

Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/chart/16687/top-10-free-to-play-games/

Tassi, P. (2019, February 25). ‘Fortnite’ Revenue Reportedly Drops By Nearly 50% In One Month.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2019/02/25/fortnite-revenue-

reportedly-drops-by-nearly-50-in-one-month/#2fd13d89600b

Telfer, A. (n.d.). Deconstructing Fortnite: A Deeper Look at the Battle Pass. Retrieved from

https://mobilefreetoplay.com/deconstructing-fortnite-a-deeper-look-at-the-battle-pass/