Fortnite Battle Royale
The idea for "Fortnite Battle Royale" arose following the release of the similar battle royale game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds", which saw numerous player count records broken throughout 2017. Seeing its rapid growth and commercial success, Epic Games saw the opportunity to create a battle royale mode of their own. Originally released as part of the paid "Fortnite" game, Epic spun out a dedicated version of the game offered as free-to-play funded by microtransactions, sharing in-game currency with the main "Fortnite" game, allowing players to buy or earn cosmetic items to customize their character, as well as completing challenges through a battle pass to earn additional rewards. , the game has seen over 200 million players, and has been estimated to have earned in microtransactions. "Fortnite Battle Royale" has become a cultural phenomenon, with streams of the game achieving record-high viewerships, and with several high-profile celebrities stating their appreciation of the game.
Fortnite Battle Royale
For the first five seasons, all ports of "Fortnite Battle Royale" support cross-platform play with other versions, but with limited interaction in regards to the PlayStation 4. That is, players on personal computer and mobile versions can cross-play with Xbox One and Nintendo Switch users, or alternatively they can cross-play with PlayStation 4 users. While Epic Games has expressed interest in having full cross-platform play across all available platforms, Sony's continued refusal to allow cross-play between the PlayStation 4 and other consoles rendered this impossible during the game's first year of operation, according to Microsoft. Further, while players can use a single Epic Games account to share progress in "Fortnite Battle Royale" on all other platforms, those who used their PlayStation Network credentials to establish their Epic account cannot use that account on other platforms. The account restriction was confirmed to be as a result of Sony's initial decision to prohibit cross-platform play between its PlayStation 4 and other consoles, rather than a choice Epic had made.