The success of Fortnite in the video game industry is quite a story. Released back on July 17, 2017 for PCs, the game has seen a ton of evolution since its admittedly barebones launch.
Its popularity remains uncontested, and the game routinely features content updates and collabs with other IPs, which boosts its overall appeal amongst the masses. However, things were a lot different during the first few months of the game, and Epic Games initially planned to release it as a PvE focused title.
Fortnite was a PvE title before transitioning into a battle royale spectacle
Fortnite, or as it was known before, Fortnite: Save the World, was a looter shooter, free-to-play title focused on PvE gameplay. It incorporated elements from previously established titles such as Left 4 Dead and Minecraft, combining the co-op aspect of the former with the on-the-go building aspect of Minecraft.
This was the first Fortnite game mode, and prior to the launch of the ever-popular Battle Royale mode, it was simply known as Fortnite. The game initially required paying upfront to access it, but gradually became free to play over time in a bid to capture more players (and shift toward microtransactions as its primary source of revenue).
Epic Games eventually shifted away from the microtransaction model, allowing players to buy cosmetics and other in-game items with V-Bucks, which can be purchased with real-world money.
Save the World was unfortunately canned after a few short patches, as the team shifted focus onto its Creative and Battle Royale modes instead. The game mode never made it to the free-to-play version, and its campaign was massively undercut in its scope as a result.
It’s kind of unfortunate, and a dedicated single-player mode would have been quite an interesting addition and a great way to play the game once you are frustrated with randoms. Epic likely saw the success in another game mode, and cashed out.
That’s not to say that there hasn’t been any demand for PvE modes in Fortnite – on the contrary, Fortnite players often regularly ask for such a game mode, mentioning how advantageous it could be at times.
For example, having to play in a PvE environment is a lot less stressful, and controlling who joins in during the cooperative battles would be quite the treat.
The transition to co-op multiplayer and battle royale paid off big time
There is no doubt that Fortnite’s transition toward a free-to-play, battle-royale-focused model paid off in the long run for Epic Games. Fortnite is undoubtedly one of the biggest free-to-play titles in the market currently, boasting an impressive player base of over a million.
The game also managed to generate a staggering amount of revenue, largely thanks to its ample use of collabs from other popular IPs (sometimes of the unusual kind). Fortnite shows no signs of slowing down, even in 2025, and remains as strong as it did on launch.
Taking all this into consideration, it is safe to assume that Epic Games made the right move here, at least financially.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
