Tim Sweeney, the boss of Fortnite maker Epic, believes the future of gaming is, well, Fortnite. Speaking at the Unreal Fest in Seattle, as reported by PC Gamer, he said that “a lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling nearly as well as expected”. According to the executive, this is because players are gravitating towards the “really big games where they can play with their friends”.
While other titles fail, Fortnite is going from strength to strength, according to Sweeney. He said the Battle Royale – which has become more of a platform of late – attracted record highs of 110 million active users over the last holiday season, demonstrating a “generational change” for the industry.
Sweeney believes the value of a game “grows in proportion to the number of your friends you can connect to”. Fortnite has really innovated in this area, too: it’s not just a shooter, but also a place where you can watch live concerts, drive cars, and build worlds in LEGO Fortnite.
He said the industry is divided over what actually constitutes the metaverse, but he said Fortnite is “new, exciting, and something that’s never happened at this scale in the history of entertainment”.
He also attributed a chunk of the title’s success to the way it’s become a magnet for various different brands: “Musicians, Disney and Star Wars, and others [are] all coming together to create a world-class entertainment experience that's ever-evolving and live. That's really what we think the future of gaming is about.”
Of course, there’s no real surprise to what Sweeney’s saying here: the boss of Fortnite believes Fortnite is good. But we do think there’s some truth to what he’s saying: whether you like it or loathe it, a lot of players are simply choosing to play the same games forever now. Whether it’s Roblox, GTA Online, Final Fantasy 14, Genshin Impact, or, indeed, Fortnite – that’s where players want to spend their time (and, crucially, money).
Sony’s obviously seen the statistics, and it wants in on the action, too. That’s why it’s making Fairgame$ and has plans for more live service games. The danger is there’s only so much room for titles of this type: just look at the dramatic failure of Concord for evidence of that.
Our belief is that live service games and traditional single player games can co-exist, but the industry is changing dramatically, and it does feel volatile right now. Big budget single player games like Star Wars Outlaws and even Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have been struggling, and while they all have their own individual issues, it’s clear that the biggest live service games, like Fortnite, are sucking a lot of air out of the room.
So, of course, Sweeney thinks Fortnite is the future of the industry – he’d never argue otherwise, would he? But the industry does feel like it’s going through a dramatic change, and it’s going to be interesting to see where things settle in the end.
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