Concord High School, Concord, New Hampshire

The Crimson Review

Concord High School, Concord, New Hampshire

The Crimson Review

Fortnite Battle Royale on the rise

Fortnite+Battle+Royale+on+the+rise

Fortnite Battle Royale is a survival video game in which players build structures and collect weapons to eliminate other opponents. There is a limit of 100 players per game who all battle each other, either alone or in 2- or 4-people teams.
There can only be one winner (or winning team) per contest, and many Concord High School students spend hours vying for a top spot. The game has taken off in popularity since its release last year.
“Of course I play Fortnite. Who doesn’t?” said Sam Ferry, a CHS junior. “Sometimes I play with friends but when I don’t I usually play upwards of forty games a day.” 
The game takes place on an animated island. There many little towns and buildings with supplies and materials to form protection. Also there are weapons and explosives to use to defeat others. The main way players get these items are in chests found in many different places on the map; usually these spawn in the same spot next game but not always. A player has three minutes to get in the circle until the “storm” narrows down into a smaller circle and the storm depletes your health the longer you’re in it.
The video game has been available on an Xbox, PS4, and PC since July 25, 2017, according creator to Epic Games. Fortnite has also recently come out on phones and has attracted more players because some people don’t have a gaming console.
According to a March 22 article on Forbes.com, Epic Games by February claimed Fortnite had made the company $126 million.  Sometimes up to 3.4 million players are playing at one time, according to another news account. The Apple app store says that the new mobile version of Fortnite already has over 1 million downloads.
Some people around the world are making their own money off playing the game.  An app named Twitch allows people to live stream their games while viewers make donations. Currently, the top twitch streamer is Tyler Blevins, or “Ninja”,  who has more than five million followers. To subscribe to a streamer, viewers pay twitch five us dollars. Half goes to the app and half goes to the streamer.  With Ninja’s growth not stopping anytime soon, he will shortly be making upwards of three hundred thousand dollars a month.
There has always been a debate in the “gaming world” between which is better — the Xbox or  PS4 — but Ferry is neutral.
Fellow junior William Woods agrees. “I don’t think it matters, I’ve played on both and don’t have a preference. The Xbox is a clear choice because it loads faster and has better graphics.” 
Many parents and adults think Fortnite is addicting for a child and can distract students from school work or other tasks. “It does not distract me from school work and I hope others don’t get distracted,” said Woods.
Senior Colin Conery puts it this way: “I think it’s attractive and fun because of the competitive feel and the satisfaction of winning. I wouldn’t say it’s addicting but whenever you come so close to a win and lose, you always want redemption.” 
 

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