Fortnite Battle Royale is taking over not just the gaming world but also popular culture. It has now become such a phenomenon that even rapper Drake jumped on the bandwagon earlier this month.
The game essentially drops 100 players onto an island where they compete against each other until there’s just one left standing. It’s free to play, but in-app purchases hit $103 million in February, quite a testament to its insane popularity.
So why’s is it doing so well?
According to Brandon Davis, Special Assignment Producer at ComicBook.com, the appeal lies in the fact that “it’s like the Hunger Games.”
“It’s a lot of things that you can compare it to that you’re familiar with.” Plus, “it’s easy to get a grip on.”
Janet Rose, known on Twitch as “xChocobars,” is one of the lucky few who’ve won a game of Fortnite. She says it is “really fast-paced.” But even she doesn’t exactly know what’s behind the hype.
“I’m still figuring out why I like it so much compared to other games.”
The price of popularity is the heavy lift for the tech behind the scenes. Fortnite servers have gone down as they struggled to keep up with intense traffic.
“Those types of things tend to happen while this game is so popular,” said Davis.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/no-fake-love-for-fortnite).
U.S. markets opened sharply lower on Friday on hotter-than-expected inflation data. The May CPI showed an 8.6% jump in consumer prices year-over-year, higher the expected 8.3%. Mark Howard, Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
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