Fortnite
"Fortnite Battle Royale" has also become a cultural online phenomenon, with several celebrities reporting they play the game, and athletes using "Fortnite" emotes as victory celebrations. A notable streaming event in March 2018, with streamer Ninja playing "Fortnite Battle Royale" alongside Drake, Travis Scott, Kim DotCom, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, broke viewership records for Twitch to date, and led to Epic arranging a "Fortnite Battle Royale" pro–am with 50 pairs of streamers and professional players matched with celebrities at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 in June 2018. Epic Games is working to develop organized eSports competitions around "Fortnite Battle Royale", including a "Fortnite" World Cup tournament in 2019.
Fortnite Battle Royale
"Fortnite Battle Royale"s primary distinction from other battle royale games is the building system, which originated from the original "Fortnite" survival game. Nearly all objects in the environment can be destroyed and harvested for materials (wood, stone, and metal), which can then be used to build fortifications of limited durabilities, such as walls, ramps, floors, and roofs, which can be used to help traverse the map, protect the player from gunfire, or slow down progression of other players. Weaker pieces can be destroyed in a few hits, but can be built quickly, while stronger pieces can withstand more punishment, but take longer to build.
The game is free-to-play, supported by microtransactions that allow players to buy "Vinderbucks", "V-Bucks" for short, the game's internal currency. V-Bucks are also shared with the main "Fortnite: Save the World" game, which offers players the opportunity to earn V-Bucks by completing missions or daily quests. V-Bucks can then be used to buy cosmetic improvements to the player (character, pickaxe and glider skins, back-wear, and emotes). The game is run as seasons, lasting about 10 weeks each. Each season introduces an exclusive set of cosmetic items that can be obtained. These are offered through a dual-track battle pass, which features a number of tiers that players climb through by earning 'battle stars' through completing in-game objectives, while acquiring cosmetic rewards or other items in the process. Each player has access to the "free" track of the Battle Pass, which offers fewer cosmetics that can be earned by clearing multiple tiers, while players can also purchase the Pass' "premium" track with V-Bucks, which offers more challenges and grants prizes for every tier the player advances. Players can use V-Bucks to purchase tiers as well once they have bought the Battle Pass.