History of Fortnite in Timeline

Fortnite is an online video game platform developed by Epic Games, launched in 2017. It features several distinct game modes, all using the same engine and core gameplay mechanics. The most popular is Fortnite Battle Royale, a free-to-play battle royale where up to 100 players compete to be the last one standing. Other modes include Fortnite: Save the World, a cooperative tower defense and survival game; Fortnite Creative, allowing players to build custom worlds and arenas; Lego Fortnite, an open world game collection divided between survival and social games; Rocket Racing, a racing game; Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game; and Fortnite Ballistic, a tactical first-person shooter currently in early access. All modes are free-to-play except Save the World.

2011: Fortnite Initial Concept

Around 2011, following the publishing of Gears of War 3, the concept of Fortnite began as an internal game jam at Epic Games, merging the construction game genre with shooter games.

March 2017: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Release

In March 2017, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was released, becoming a worldwide phenomenon and drawing strong interest in the battle royale genre.

July 2017: Paid Early Access Release

In July 2017, Epic Games released Fortnite as a paid early access title, planning for a free-to-play release in 2019.

August 2017: Save the World Player Milestone

By August 2017, the Save the World mode had achieved over one million players, shortly before the release of Battle Royale.

September 2017: Fortnite Battle Royale Release

In September 2017, Epic released Fortnite Battle Royale as a free game supported by microtransactions. The mode gained over 10 million players during its first two weeks.

2017: Nominations

In 2017, Fortnite was nominated for "Best Co-op Game" by PC Gamer and "Best Spectator Game" by IGN.

2017: Early Access Release of Save the World and Battle Royale

In 2017, Save the World and Battle Royale were released as early access titles. Fortnite Battle Royale gained overwhelming success, drawing over 125 million players in less than a year.

March 2018: Notable Streaming Event

In March 2018, a streaming event featuring Ninja playing Fortnite Battle Royale alongside Drake, Travis Scott, Kim DotCom, and JuJu Smith-Schuster broke viewership records for Twitch.

June 2018: Player Base Growth

By June 2018, just after the Nintendo Switch release, Fortnite Battle Royale had reached 125 million players.

Nintendo Switch™ with Neon Blue and Neon Red Joy‑Con™

Check it on Amazon

June 2018: Fortnite Battle Royale Pro-Am at E3 2018

In June 2018, Epic Games arranged a Fortnite Battle Royale pro–am at E3 2018, matching streamers and professional players with celebrities.

December 6, 2018: Creative Mode Release

On December 6, 2018, Fortnite Creative was released. This version joined Save the World and Battle Royale as one of the main modes in Fortnite.

2018: Awards

In 2018, Fortnite won the award for Best Ongoing Game by PC Gamer and IGN. IGN also nominated it for "Best Nintendo Switch Game", "Best Mobile Game", and "Best Action Game".

Nintendo Switch™ with Neon Blue and Neon Red Joy‑Con™

Check it on Amazon

July 2019: Inaugural Fortnite World Cup Tournament

In July 2019, the inaugural US$30 million Fortnite World Cup tournament took place.

December 2019: Fortnite Revenue Milestone

By December 2019, Fortnite had generated $9 billion in gross revenue and was listed among the greatest games of all time.

2019: Total Revenue Milestone

By the end of 2019, total revenue for Fortnite had reached more than $9 billion.

2019: Planned Free-to-Play Release

In 2019, Epic Games had plans to release Fortnite as free-to-play, while taking feedback from players to improve the game.

June 29, 2020: Save the World Full Release

On June 29, 2020, Save the World exited early access and was released as a premium title.

2020: Epic Games Organizes FNCS

In 2020, Epic Games organized the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS).

2021: Epic Games Organizes FNCS

In 2021, Epic Games organized the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS).

2022: Blast ApS Organizes FNCS

From 2022 onwards, Blast ApS organized the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS).

March 2023: Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) Release

In March 2023, Epic released the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), a standalone editor for Windows, allowing creators to use Unreal Engine features and Fortnite assets in developing new modes within the Fortnite Creative mode, named "Creative 2.0".

October 2023: Fortnite Experiences Redesign

In October 2023, Epic redesigned the main Fortnite client to present Epic's own modes and creative modes as part of Fortnite Experiences.

December 2023: Introduction of New Epic-Developed Modes

In December 2023, Epic introduced three new modes: Lego Fortnite, a survival game developed with The Lego Group; Rocket Racing, an arcade-style driving game by Psyonix; and Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game by Harmonix. The new modes were introduced as free-to-play.

2023: Expansion of Game Modes and Battle Passes

In 2023, Fortnite expanded its game modes, adding Festival Pass for Fortnite Festival and Lego Pass for Lego Fortnite, to support the new game modes.

March 2024: UEFN Improvements Announced

In March 2024, numerous improvements in UEFN were announced, including the addition of Unreal Engine's MetaHuman character rendering technology, and more assets from Lego, Rocket Racing, and Fall Guys.

December 2024: Pass Progression and Renaming

In December 2024, Epic Games updated the pass progression mechanics, allowing passes to be progressed through experience points earned in any Fortnite game mode. The Festival Pass was also renamed to Music Pass.