'Fortnite' is roughly as popular as 'Apple' right now, according to Google Trends

• "Fortnite Battle Royale" is the hottest game in the world right now.
• Need proof? Just look at the graph below, courtesy of Google Trends.
• It shows how there is more search volume on Google for "Fortnite" than there is for "Apple," the most valuable company in the world and the maker of the iPhone.

---

"Fortnite" is a global phenomenon.

Since April 11, at around 5 p.m. that day - the same time the free-to-play game experienced a worldwide blackout that lasted over 12 hours - "Fortnite" has surpassed "Apple" in search volume on Google, the most popular search engine in the world.

For those unfamiliar with the game, "Fortnite Battle Royale" is completely free to play, and highly accessible: It's a free download on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and even iPhone and iPad. An Android version of "Fortnite" is also coming soon.

In the ensuing days since the global "Fortnite" outage, people have been searching for information about the game, and about Apple, in near equal measure. The chart below shows how the popularity of these two terms has fluctuated over the past five days. "Fortnite" was more popular on Friday and Saturday, but Apple was more popular on Sunday and Monday.

For some reference, though, "Fortnite Battle Royale" has still yet to reach the heights of another popular game in recent years: "Pokémon Go" is still the gold standard when it comes to global gaming phenomena. The chart below says it all.

Get the latest Google stock price here.