Fortnite is a third person battle royale game. It was one of the first battle royale games released for Xbox and Playstation. A battle royale game is when players are dropped onto a map without anything. They have to scavenge to find weapons and other items. They then fight to be the last one standing on the map. Fortnite started the trend of battle royale video games back in 2017. Because of Fortnite, many other battle royale games have been created. This has caused Fortnite to lose popularity, but now it seems to be making a comeback. 

Fortnite’s biggest competitor is Call of Duty: Warzone. Warzone came out in 2020, three years after Fortnite’s release. It quickly became one of the top battle royale games. Brad Perry said, “I got tired of playing the same game for so long, I wanted to try some of the new games that were coming out. I also wanted to have a more realistic feel than Fortnite.” In the past all Call of Duty games have been a regular first person shooter game with multiplayer and campaign modes. But after seeing the success of Fortnite and other battle royale games, the Call of Duty franchise decided to join the Battle Royale trend. With so many new battle royale games coming out and then a major video game franchise releasing one, there was no doubt that players would leave Fortnite to try the other games. 

Along with starting the new battle royale trend, Fortnite began a new way to keep the game fresh and always changing, called seasons. A season lasts about three months and each season has its own theme. By doing this Fortnite was able to add new elements to the game and keep players interested in the game.”I like that they change the theme every season based on things that are happening in real life, like how the newest season is about spiderman.” Said Sam Udelhofen. With the seasons came the battle pass. This was basically a subscription to the game. You would buy the battle pass for each season and with the battle pass came challenges you had to complete to unlock rewards in the game. This included new skins, dances, emotes, and other items that were exclusive to the season's battle pass. Many other games, including Warzone, copied this idea and added it to their game. 

With all the new games copying Fortnite, many players switched to other games. They wanted to try new games and see what they were like. They wanted a more realistic battle royale game instead of Fortnite’s more childish, cartoony style and they wanted to keep playing with their friends. “I just got bored of Fortnite, my friends stopped playing which made the game less fun. So I tried some of the other battle royale games,” said Logan Uppena. This isn’t unusual for video games. Most games will be popular for about a year after their release until they lose most of their players. 

The unique thing about Fortnite though, is that it seems to make a comeback every now and then. About once a year I start hearing about people playing Fortnite and how it's making a comeback. No other games seem to do this, not over the span of four years at least. The Call of Duty franchise makes a new game every year; almost every game they release is popular for a little while but has never been able to stay popular for long. Fortnite has changed so much and keeps changing every season. Ashton Spitzack said, “I like how they switch things up, they are always adding new things to the game to keep it interesting.” This is what keeps the game alive. Every season is unique and every now and then a new season will drop and it will bring back many players because of the new map and new items. This is why Fortnite has been one of the top games for the last four years. It has found a way to change and stay updated with the current trends. 

So the next time you’re bored and getting tired of your other games, head on over to Fortnite and see what's new. Maybe get a squad going with some of your friends to get the full battle royale experience.