*By Jacqueline Corba* 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' is now a member of the billion dollar club. [Market research firm SuperData estimates the popular game](http://www.businessinsider.com/fortnite-one-billion-dollars-2018-7) has crossed the 10-figure mark in revenue from in-app purchases this year, a lofty figure for a free game. USA Today Reporter Eli Blumenthal told Cheddar Friday that some players are paying for add-onsーfrom costumes for their characters to new dance moves, even popcorn!ーsimply as a way to say [thank you](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/07/19/inside-fortnite-how-free-game-makes-so-much-money/754549002/) to creators at Epic Games. But not all these purchases are acts of gratitude. "Others are buying for the very simple reason that it's cool, it's fun, they like the way their character looks," Blumenthal said. "They are spending all this time, and they want to make their player look like them." But bells and whistles don't actually enhance a users' ability to win the game of survival. "Everything you are buying in Fortnite is just cosmetic," said Blumenthal. "It doesn't give you any special powers. It is purely for design." Something must be working: Fornite boasts 125 million users, and some have likened the game's popularity to an [addiction] (https://mashable.com/2018/06/29/fortnite-addiction-young-children-real-issue/). The game's main tactic, it seems: releasing a steady stream of new content with patch [updates](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2018/07/12/here-are-all-the-leaked-skins-and-cosmetics-found-in-fortnites-big-season-5-patch/#1e33ea4b7c59) every week or so. And there's plenty more opportunity, Blumenthal said. "It could definitely get bigger," he said. For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/marvel-jumps-into-vr-games)
