Battle royale games like 'Fortnite' and 'PUBG' are taking over the world - but it might be all downhill from here
Both "Fortnite" and "PUBG" have achieved success using the same formula, with "Fortnite" largely improving and capitalizing on what "PUBG" established last March.
Of course, there is a great deal of variation between "Fortnite" and "PUBG," despite how they lean heavily on the same battle-royale formula as one another.
- "PUBG" is grittier and much more realistic-looking: The characters, environment, and gear all feel very much grounded in reality, despite it being a video game.
- "Fortnite" is much more colorful and cartoonish, and adds additional layers of complexity like the ability to build forts and defenses using materials you scrounge from the environment.
People want to play — and watch others play — these battle-royale games. And that's why other game developers are reportedly working on their own battle-royale games.
This year's big "Call of Duty" game, for example, is rumored to implement a 100-player battle royale mode.
Similarly, EA and DICE are reportedly working on a battle royale mode for the next big "Battlefield" game.
You can see where this is going: Soon, every major multiplayer video game — especially the ones with shooting as the main mechanic — could have this battle-royale mode. And the formula itself may never get boring, due to the built-in drama of a 100-person deathmatch, but it may get old, and people may move on.
"Fortnite" is having its moment right now: It successfully made the battle-royale format accessible to a non-gamer audience by making the game free, and on most platforms, including smartphones. So it's hard to imagine another game coming along, using the same formula, and stealing its thunder completely. That next game would also have to be free, available across most platforms, and equally colorful and fun.
Attention is already divided between the two big battle-royale games, "PUBG" and "Fortnite." One should assume that any kind of new game in the same genre would further split the votes, so to speak, in terms of which game to play, or which game to watch on sites like YouTube or Twitch. And that means we may never see the kind of hype we're seeing with "Fortnite" anytime soon.
That said, it will be interesting to see if games like "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" can actually improve upon the battle-royale formula at all, or if they just intend to cash in. The financial incentives for creating this kind of game mode are clear: It's up to the developers to create a compelling case for why their battle-royale mode is superior, in the same way "Fortnite" did.
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