As one of the most popular video games on the planet, Fortnite has become an absolute phenomenon since it was released back in 2017. Created by Epic Games and available on multiple platforms – including PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch – the game boasts a colorful cartoony style that has attracted millions upon millions of players to its battle royale gameplay mode.
But with all that fame comes money, and boy does Fortnite make a lot of cash. In today’s article we’ll be exploring exactly how much revenue this juggernaut generates per day in order to provide you with some insight into just how successful it is.
To get to grips with the financials involved here it’s worth assessing each income stream separately:
1) In-game purchases
One major way that Fortnite makes money every day is through sales of virtual goods like skins, emotes and battle passes. Essentially these are optional cosmetic items which don’t alter gameplay but allow players to customize their characters or celebrate achievements in new ways.
Although many gamers would never dream of shelling out real dollars for such ephemera (since they don’t affect gameplay mechanics), there are plenty who do see value in personalizing their avatars or collecting rare items. This means Epic can afford to charge quite high prices while still retaining a large paying audience.
For instance, buying a complete set of certain outfits can easily cost $20-$30 depending what’s included; meanwhile specific dances or gestures (emotes) typically retail for around $5 apiece. There’s also now an annual subscription called “Fortnite Crew” which offers exclusive goodies along with early access to content at around $12 per month. All told Forbes estimates that Fortnite made roughly $2.4 billion from these same microtransactions last year alone!
All this adds up pretty quickly indeed so even though exact figures aren’t publicly disclosed by Epic , industry insiders reckon these types of sales alone could bring in at least $400m annually.
2) Third-party advertising deals
It’s not just direct sales that make money for the team at Epic either, since there are also plenty of third parties willing to sponsor content related to Fortnite. This might involve product placements within the main game itself, but it could also extend to wider promotional activities such as having famous streamers (or “influencers”) endorse their products over Twitch or YouTube videos.
Especially considering how some 90 million people reportedly played Fortnite back in 2018, advertisers have been keen on getting a slice of that audience for a while now – so expect even more branded items or collaborations going forward. Although we can’t narrow down specific revenues from these types of partnerships it is safe to say we’re looking at additional tens of millions per year overall.
3) Esports tournaments/competition entry fees
Another big way that Fortnite generates revenue is through official esports competitions which reward top players with cash prizes and potentially open up further endorsement opportunities elsewhere. In general this would be a much smaller figure than items purchased through micro-transactions however during the pandemic last year virtual online events were held far more frequently with big-brands like Sony investing heavily into them; in every case including Fortnite as one title among several.
Since someone has to pay the host organizations hosting those esports tourneys too (more common for player-focused groups), Epic will gain back a cut of all proceeds made from any tournament hosting fee charged by outright banning unlicensed events- making sure that full control stays within their walls. Though obviously they don’t make enormous returns off what may be treated like a fledgling branch compared to everything else quite yet, many think this area has large potential faster growth considering recent trends and precautions limiting offline gatherings due to Covid-19.
Consequently profits from arenas who hold exclusive rights occasionally reach multimillion dollar territory per annum:
4) Game Developers Conference award earnings
In a one-time event Epic came out on top in terms of revenue for their games with Fortnite dominating all other competitors between 2018 and 2021 award ceremonies organized by the Game Developers Conference. The sheer numbers are staggering here.
Judged by industry veterans which took participation ranging from studio heads to senior design/programming staff, this will be exacted technically through “sales, audience/community data” as noted by organizers. Based on their internal reporting streams before press deductions or specified cut-offs were communicated it appears that per day those same sources project potentially an accumulated $5-100 million individual might make up daily.
So how much does Fortnite make each day?
At the end of the day, there’s no definitive answer since different analysts have come up with varying estimates depending on how they measure specific income streams (or lack thereof) like third-party endorsement deals. But considering direct microtransaction sales alone bring in around $400m p.a combined along with tens of millions more from advertiser placement or esports tournaments.. we could safely say Fortnite perhaps generates over a million dollars every single waking day just from active engagement! And remember that number doesn’t even account for indirect profits made off merchandise collaborations, tv rights payable when blockbuster superhero movies featuring Marvel/DC characters bore likeness to ones over within game mechanics themselves.
It’s pretty clear that – at least financially speaking – Fortnite is an absolute monster of a game and has set new records as far as digital entertainment earnings go this last half-decade with minimal signs slowing down despite strong competition coming lock-step following them years later after key decisions/setups slowly revealed full potential present within ecosystem surrounding property itself.
What makes this accomplishment particularly impressive is given its humble origins: starting out during early access period before proper launch growth seems almost unstoppable even against completely current wave blockbusters spanning the entire film & music industries undeniably outselling them becoming top grossing accolades rather than just simple users enjoying free material on offer.