Update 2: Over 1 million players have played the game so far despite the controversy. Battle Royale games seem to be the new craze.
Over 1 million players have partied on the Battle Bus during the first day of Battle Royale! Thank you and party on! ??? pic.twitter.com/Tdqnk8YClb
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) September 27, 2017
Well, this is rather unexpected. I guess imitation really is the biggest form of flattery. Do you remember Fortnite? The new experience from Tim Sweeney’s Epic Games which was supposed to be free-to-play but you have to pay a lot to get early access? Well, they’ve done the unexpected because the game is getting a PlayerUnknown’s Battleground-like mode. Yes, Battle Royale is coming to Fortnite on September 26.
IGN was able to get their hands on the mode and it looks like a lot of fun. It’s a little strange though because it seems like an unpolished version of PlayerUnknown’s Battleground. Even the 100-player count is the same. I suppose the only exception is that you can build structures in Fortnite? The timing is definitely strange and it’s obviously designed to capture the audience of the game on console. However, this may work on PlayStation 4 because they probably won’t get PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds due to Microsoft’s new marketing deal, but on Xbox One we just have to wait a few more months for the game. If you want a fix of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in the meantime, go and play Fortnite.
Update 1: It’s already available to test when you launch the game. Unlike the main game, Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode will be free-to-play when it launches on September 26. Yes, that means anyone can play it. Epic Games issued the following statement:
“Today, Epic Games has some exciting news. On September 26, Fortnite: Battle Royale will be free for everyone on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Mac. This PvP mode puts 100-players on a giant map with destructible environments, where they’ll combine their Fortnite building and combat skills to be the last one standing.”