A few years back, in a bid to explain Fortnite’s unexplainable world, Epic Games came up with the term “Snapshot” to describe, in-universe, why its battle royale matches can feature multiple people playing as the same Fortnite character, or why seemingly singular characters available in Fortnite – like Peely the banana, or The Rock, or Wolverine – can reappear under different guises.
FortnitePublisher: Epic GamesDeveloper: Epic GamesPlatform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, MobileLaunched: July 2017Monetisation: Free-to-play with microtransactions including approx. £8 battle pass.
What is a Snapshot? Why is it a Snapshot? Dear reader, these are questions for another time. But the general term, at least, has stuck with me as I try to sum up what Fortnite was, and is, and will be. If you’d asked me five years ago today, I’d say it was a distinctly average PVE base building shooter – and the first time Eurogamer ever really covered Fortnite in detail was a preview of this now long-sidelined mode.
If you’d asked me four years ago, as Fortnite’s quickly-thrown-together battle royale was blowing up and footballers were doing its dances in World Cup matches, I’d say it was probably The Next Big Thing. Three years ago? Fortnite was established as a phenomenon, an industry-leading showcase of engine mastery and live service development that could pull off in-game stunts like no other. Want to blow up bits of the map in real-time with a giant volcano? No problem. Stage a giant monster versus mech fight and invite everyone in to see it live? You got it.
Two years ago? I remember Epic Games’ Donald Mustard on stage at The Game Awards in December 2019, pre-empting the majority of the industry by proclaiming Fortnite as a metaverse. It would grow into a place where all kinds of IPs and experiences could interact, he said, ahead of a year which saw Fortnite fill itself with an eye-catching Travis Scott concert series and a season fully devoted to Marvel. And it’s from here, really, where I feel like the game’s momentum is still rolling.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Fortnite remains one of the biggest games in the world, and the past 12 months have shown exactly why. Compare where Fortnite is today with a year ago and I could name a dozen changes off the top of my head: a vastly-improved movement system, a brilliant new Chapter 3 map, countless gameplay additions such as rideable animals, regular weekly voiced missions with big names behind the microphone, and perhaps most startling of all, the recently-launched Zero Build mode where Epic ditched one of Fortnite’s original core mechanics to the delight of many.