Fortnite season 10 released, exciting gamers and investors
The latest season of the uber-popular video game "Fortnite" is here.
Gamers and amateur enthusiasts alike are reveling in season 10's (officially called season X) “Battle Pass,” which allows players to customize skins of the well-known characters. For example, Catalyst is a female version of Drift. There are a number of new challenges and features.
This release strategically comes on the heels of the Fortnite World Cup.
Pennsylvania teen Kyle Giersdorf, who plays as “bugha,” won the top prize last week at the New York series. Two other professional teen video-gamers also became millionaires from their talents this weekend. Sixteen-year-old Emil Bergquist Pedersen from Norway, known as “Nyhrox” in the game, and 17-year-old David “Aqua” Wang from Austria, won the Fortnite World Cup duo championship, beating 50 other teams to share a $3 million prize.
Winners at the Fortnite World Cup compete for a $30 million prize pool and Epic Games offered $40 million total in prizes.
Fortnite is one of the most widely-played video games with more than 250 million players. According to Reuters, Fortnite’s popularity has allowed Epic Games to reach a $15-billion-valuation last year. They made $3 billion last year in profits.
According to Newzoo's Global Games Market Report released last year, gamers around the world spend around $138 billion on games annually. The gaming market research firm projects this figure will increase 13.3 percent each year, representing an additional $16.2 billion.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
The game has been described as a battle royale-style match, according to Tech Crunch – “think ‘Lord of the Flies’ meets ‘Hunger Games.’” While the game has raised concerns about its addictive quality, no evidence has been linked to users’ increased level of violence or decreased functionality.