Rivalries can be very good for gaming. This is why the term “console war” exists, because players love rivalries between developers and publishers. But there’s also rivalries between certain games in certain genres. Call of Duty vs. Battlefield is a great example of this. One that feels more recent, and more important, is the war going on between Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. For these two have been duking it out for a while, and though one had a clear lead for a long time, the underdog is now dominating.
And we’re not just talking in terms of players and views on Twitch and other streaming services (which we noted Fortnite was winning in previous articles), but rather, in the month of February, Fortnite beat PUBG in regards to revenue. According to the Verge, Epic Games’ title earned $126 million dollars during the month, while Bluehole’s game only made $102 million. That’s very interesting considering what’s going on with both games.
Now, the question is, why did Fortnite win this battle in that month? Well, it was several factors. One of which is that Epic Games has a microtransaction model that allows players to buy all sorts of cosmetic items, ones that come frequently, which prompts players to get the newest items. For example, they recently released gear for St. Patrick’s day, and no doubt that was a big hit with fans.
Also though, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds honestly doesn’t have that, or at the very least, not to the extent of its competitor. Most of its money for February came from people buying the game itself. Which is impressive given the amount they ended up with, but because players can’t go to the lengths that the others can, it did hurt them in the revenue area.
Should this trend continue, Fortnite could be in a for a very profitable, and satisfying, year.
