The free-to-play game “Fortnite” is considered the “gateway” for online competitive gaming. It is most certainly not the first but it is the most successful. Derided as it is by more serious gamers, it must be attributed that without its massive casual gamer base (numbering in the millions) most of the more so-called advanced MOBAs arguably would not exist today.
Bright colorful stylish graphics as well as being accessible and convenient. Available not only on PC but console and phone as well, the so-called casual gamer market has already been conquered by Epic’s Fortnite.
In fact, Fortnite did not start out as a MOBA. Instead, the developer Epic wanted to emulate the surge in Zombie Survival games which reached its peak around 2010 to 2011. Combined with crafting and camping elements, this first incarnation of Fortnite was declared a financial failure.
Then several years later, a little game called “Player Unknown Battlegrounds”(PUBG) began to gain attention for what is now considered the “archetype” of the current MOBA formula:
• Get dropped off at a certain position on a deceptively expansive map.
• Scavenge and acquire weaponry as well as equipment.
• Survive by eliminating other players.
• Or by rushing to the final extraction point.
• The living zone (typically designated as blue) of the map area starts to shrink.
• Red zones actively damage players so they are unable to survive for a prolonged period.
PUBG was released before Fortnite and has enjoyed a significant amount of success. There are even formal e-sports teams. While it is undoubtedly the more complex of the two, Fortnite has enjoyed a far higher player base due to its casual attractiveness.
Unsurprisingly, Fortnite’s player base soared immensely during the height of the recent pandemic when mandatory house lockdowns were enacted.
Fortnite’s popularity was further cemented by ultra-popular game streamers such as Doctor Disrespect and Ninja (Pictured Above) garnered 10s of millions of views from their escapades.
Without the massive casual gamer success of Fortnite, it is very easy to make the case that more advanced MOBAs such as SMITE (Left), Overwatch (Center) and Apex Legends (Right) would not exist- at least in their current form- as of today.
EASY TO LEARN HARD TO MASTER
That’s not to say Fortnite is akin to “as vast as an ocean and as shallow as a pool.” On the contrary, there is a certain level of skill required if a player has any desire to reach the higher rankings of the professional ladder. Even so, for those who simply wish to shoot the breeze with a team of friends on a casual server, there are very few other MOBAs which can compete with Fortnite in that regard.
