Battle Royale

Corey Gander

Fortnite Battle Royale is a free, online 100-player PvP (player vs. player) game. It consists of one large battleground for players to play on, and they can build structures and defeat opponents with hidden guns. The objective of the game is simple – the last one standing wins. The simple objective and the different playing modes have led Fortnite to become a popular game. The game is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Mac.

Players can play with themselves or up to three others depending on the game type. Each match begins with players skydiving off of a bus to a desired location on the map. Once landed, players rush to find guns and building materials to survive since players begin with no weapons, armour, material or any other essentials. While the game moves on, there is an added difficulty called the storm. The storm is a force that pushes players to an area of the map that gets smaller and smaller. It is meant to keep the game flowing and prevent people from hiding in the edge of the map during the entire match. The goal is to stay inside the “eye of the storm” which is the safe circle. If one gets caught in the storm, they will take damage over time until they die or run back into the eye of the storm. Within the storm eye players are safe from taking damage from the storm, but not from enemies.

Fortnite competes with the similar game Player Unknown Battleground, or PUBG, but Fortnite offers something that PUBG does not which is the capability to build structures. This feature adds a new strategic style of play to the game of Fortnite. Players can build their own makeshift shelters, traps and bases to make it more difficult for their enemies to eliminate them. This is considered the key to getting first place or the coveted Victory Royale.

Just recently Fortnite passed the 40 million players milestone. Many people argue that Fortnite could easily be the biggest game in the world. Sophomore Carter Debus said, “I love this game with all my heart. Being able to play with bros and mess around is all I want to do everyday after school.” The game is currently in its early access stage, which means the developers are constantly working on bug fixes and updates before the final edition of the game is released. Many students are losing sleep due to playing Fortnite.

Fortnite is coming out with a new update which is planned to release February 8. This update will feature Valentine’s Day. There will be a variety of new skins available along with a new weapon called Cupid’s arrow. This crossbow is the newest weapon addition to Battle Royale.