Following the phenomenal success of the Fortnite Battle Royale, a mobile version of the game has been announced as well. According to developer Epic Games, Fortnite Mobile will come to both the iOS and Android in the next few months (but first on iOS).
It will be interesting to see how Epic Games transforms the game’s survival mechanics and twitchy gunplay onto a touchscreen interface. The developer, however, does have experience on mobile as it co-developed the three Infinity Blade games with Chair Entertainment.
Epic Games has also assured that the Fortnite Mobile will be the same as the 100 player Battle Royale that the players are used to. “Same gameplay, same map, same content, same weekly updates,” Epic Games said in a blog post. “Starting Monday, you can sign-up for the Invite Event on iOS. Support for Android will be coming in the next few months.”
There are chances that the mobile version will include the game’s famous Battle Pass. Also, there are hints of crossplay between PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, iOS and eventually Android. So, iOS users will be able to take on Android when the support arrives.
Talking of crossplay, the developer said, “…players across devices can squad up with friends and play together. We believe this is the future of games. The same game on all platforms. Console quality graphics and action. Play when you want, where you want.” There is no information if the Xbox consoles will also support crossplay. Further, Epic Games dropped no hint if they are planning to bring Fortnite Save the World to mobile.
Starting Monday, iOS users will be allowed to sign up to receive invites for an early version of the game. In the next few months, Epic Games would allow some players to play the game based on the invite. After registering on the game’s official website, a user would get an email including the download link for the game. Further, users getting the invites will also get friend invite codes to share with friends.
For users who don’t get the email, Epic says “If you don’t receive an invite right away, don’t worry. We’ll be adding more players regularly over the coming months.” In the meantime, users must ensure that they have a reliable internet connection and supported devices (at least an iPhone 6S/SE, iPad Mini 4, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 or iPad 2017) running on the iOS 11.
Fortnite Battle Royale is not the only battle royale game heading to mobile. Last year, PUBG Corp. announced that it partnered with Tencent to come up with a mobile version of the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in China. Though several battle royale clones already exist on the mobile marketplace, there are good chances that both PUBG and Fortnite Battle Royale will become the first preference of the gamers.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see which of the two will achieve more success. Going by their performance so far, Fortnite seems to be a little ahead. It was the first to hit the consoles and get on 75 million PS4s. On the other hand, the absence of an early access program on Sony limited PUBG’s reach. However, PUBG’s mobile has grown immensely popular in China.
Fortnite Battle Royale command more than 40 million players, while PUBG, even before leaving Early Access on PC, sold more than 20 million copies. The latter added another 4 million when it made the Xbox One debut in December. Both the games together earned $200 million in revenue, and were among the top-10 best-selling games on PC and consoles.
In 2017, mobile games surpassed PC and console counterparts in terms of revenue for the first time. So, it was logical to come up with games like Fortnite Mobile. Last year, Tencent’s Arena of Valor attracted spending of $48.3 billion on mobile, and the number is expected to grow to $72.3 billion by 2020, notes VentureBeat.
In separate news, Fortnite recently got a new battle royale mode – called Teams of 20. The mode will be similar to the current 50 v 50. Prior to this update, the developer added the Solid Gold mode, where squads battle with only legendary items and weapons. Further, Epic has also teased several new modes that the gamers can expect to see in the next few months, notes Metro. The developer is even planning a second 50 v 50 mode with several tweaks, like separate buses for each team and allowing players to see teammates on the map.
