Fortnite Battle Royale

Fortnite Battle Royale is a 2017 battle royale video game produced by Epic Games. Part of the overall Fortnite platform, the game follows up to 100 players competing to be the last player or team remaining. Matches begin with players descending onto a large island map, where they gather weapons, items, and resources from scattered locations while attempting to avoid damage from both other players and a continuously shrinking safe zone. A building system allows players to use gathered materials—wood, stone, and metal—to create temporary structures that can be used for movement, defense, or combat. The game is played from a third-person perspective.

The game is organized into chapters and seasons, each bringing updates to the map, gameplay, and cosmetic content. Players may purchase an in-game currency, V-Bucks, used to buy cosmetic items such as outfits and emotes. A seasonal "Battle Pass", also purchased with V-Bucks, provides additional content and unlockable tiers. New modes have been introduced since launch, including Zero Build, which removes building mechanics, as well as ranked gameplay and other special formats with different rulesets. Some modes and updates are tied to promotional collaborations with film, television, and music properties.

Development began in mid-2017, following the popularity of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Built using assets from Fortnite: Save the World, the mode was originally planned as part of the paid version of Fortnite, but was released separately as a free title. Epic Games launched the mode after two months of development, later assigning a dedicated team to support its rapid growth. The game expanded to additional platforms, including consoles and mobile devices, and later introduced cross-platform play and moved to a newer version of the Unreal Engine to improve performance and add new technology.

Fortnite Battle Royale has received widespread attention and commercial success, with hundreds of millions of registered players and significant revenue across multiple platforms. Critics praised the building mechanics, accessibility, frequent content updates, and cross-platform functionality. Critics have also noted concerns about its monetization system, learning curve, and in-game purchases. The game has had a broad cultural reach, appearing in live events, esports, and licensed media, and has been involved in disputes related to copyright, platform policies, consumer protection, and digital privacy.

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