How many people play Fortnite? After bursting onto the scene in 2017, Fortnite has since become a worldwide phenomenon, amassing 650 million players across the globe as of November 2023, up from 400 million in May 2021.
Why is Fortnite so popular?
The reasons Fortnite has become such a global hit are clear. Not only is the game free to play, but it is also available on most gaming platforms. On top of this, Fortnite's most popular gameplay mode is the battle royale mode, in which up to 100 players fight it at once. This means that the re-playability of the game is infinite – each game is unique.
Keeping players engaged with live services
Fortnite Battle Royale is also a live service game, meaning that the game receives regular content updates to keep players engaged. Each season of the game roughly lasts 10 weeks and features events such as online concerts, and cosmetic changes. The game’s current iteration is called "鬼HUNTERS (Demon HUNTERS)" with a theme around yōkai, hunters and Japanese culture.
Live service games are here to stay
By offering cross-platform, multiplayer gaming with a live service schedule, Fortnite covers two of the biggest gaming industry trends, which the majority of the industry intend to follow. A 2023 of global gaming studios found that more than nine in ten studios were either working on or intending to release a live services title. With regular, cadenced, and themed updates to free-to-play games, studios motivate players to keep returning and, eventually, spend not only time but also money on the game. This seems to work for the parent company Epic Games – Fortnite was one of the most downloaded PlayStation F2P game in the EU and North America in 2024.
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Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023
(in millions)
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Game World Observer. (November 21, 2023). Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved June 11, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/
Game World Observer. "Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in millions) ." Chart. November 21, 2023. Statista. Accessed June 11, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/
Game World Observer. (2023). Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in millions) . Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: June 11, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/
Game World Observer. "Registered Users of Fortnite Worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in Millions) ." Statista, Statista Inc., 21 Nov 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/
Game World Observer, Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in millions) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/ (last visited June 11, 2025)
Registered users of Fortnite worldwide from August 2017 to November 2023 (in millions) [Graph], Game World Observer, November 21, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/746230/fortnite-players/