Fortnite steals show at video-gaming expo E3 in Los Angeles, while virtual reality proves it’s here to stay
Despite a slow start, VR is only going to grow in the gaming industry, say experts at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The star of the show was the battle-royale-style video game set in a post-apocalyptic world
Fortnite, the battle-royale-style video game that pits players against each other in a post-apocalyptic world, was the undisputed star at the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The annual video game extravaganza also indicated that despite its slow pickup, virtual reality will not be going away any time soon.
The game is popular because it can be played for free on a range of devices including smartphones, personal computers and consoles. Nintendo added Fortnite to its Switch consoles this month.
“Battle royale is a proven and popular game style,” says Twitch eSports programme head Justin Dellario.
Fortnite, by Epic Games, is the most popular game now on Amazon-owned Twitch, with more than six billion minutes of play in April alone, according to Dellario. It became an eSports phenomena after the release late last year of a free “Battle Royale” mode that lets up to 100 players vie to be the last character alive on ever-shrinking terrain.
The game was crafted to be easily picked up by players, and includes goofy stunts, such as riding rockets or shopping trolleys, says Celia Hodent, who worked on user experience at Epic Games before leaving late last year.
“There is no recipe for making sure a game is a huge hit, but now you have specific ingredients you use,” says Hodent, author of the book The Gamer’s Brain. “What you are talking about is more a social phenomenon; when something is very popular then more people want to play it.”
Elsewhere, if there’s anything that this year’s E3 also confirmed is that virtual reality is here to stay in the gaming industry. The platform is in its infancy – it’s been available for sale to the masses only for about two years – but it’s continuing to take giant steps.
With showings at E3 from companies leading the way in virtual reality like Facebook’s Oculus and Sony’s PlayStation VR, developers are banking on virtual reality’s growth. Sony alone showcased 14 games for its VR device at the conference.
