Fortnite popularity further increases | More hours played in Dec than nearest rivals combined

Video Games Chronicle wrote:Console users reportedly spent over 1.6 billion hours playing Fortnite in December 2023.

The total is greater than the combined amount of time console owners spent playing Call of Duty HQ (Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone), EA Sports FC 24, Grand Theft Auto V/Online and Roblox last month, according to research firm Ampere Analysis.

Source: Click

Absolutely incredible player hours being put into Fortnite. I knew it was popular, but to beat the combined total of those other huge games is amazing. Obviously the three new games (Lego, Rocket Racing and Festival) on the Fortnite platform boosted numbers - up by around 150% over November - but it feels like Fortnite has grown to be a true giant of the industry.

I guess that the awareness and income generated by Fortnite is why so many other publishers are repeatedly trying to make it in the "free to start" gaming arena.

They’re wanting to start more F2P titles without putting in the legwork. Fortnite started off as a terrible PVE game that Epic thought would make a good PUBG clone. YouTube got hold of it and the hype grew. Every season added something new to the game and removed features never to return. The pandemic exploded the game.

To get to where they are now took years of building.