Fortnite facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fortnite |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genres | Survival, battle royale, sandbox |
| Developers | Epic Games |
| Publishers |
|
| Platforms | |
| First release | Fortnite: Save the World July 25, 2017 (early access) |
| Latest release | Fortnite Ballistic December 11, 2024 (early access) |
Fortnite is a super popular online game and game platform made by Epic Games. It first came out in 2017. You can play Fortnite in many different ways, but they all share the same basic look and feel.
The most famous part is Fortnite Battle Royale. In this game, up to 100 players fight to be the last one standing. There's also Fortnite: Save the World, where you team up with friends to fight zombie-like monsters and build defenses. Fortnite Creative lets you build your own worlds and game levels.
Newer additions include Lego Fortnite, which is an open world game where you play with Lego characters. Rocket Racing is a fast-paced racing game, and Fortnite Festival is a fun music game. The newest one is Fortnite Ballistic, a tactical shooting game that launched in late 2024. All these games are free to play, except for Save the World.
Fortnite Battle Royale became a huge hit very quickly. It attracted over 125 million players in less than a year! The entire Fortnite game platform has made billions of dollars and is considered one of the greatest games of all time.
You can play Save the World on computers (macOS, Windows) and game consoles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One). Battle Royale and Creative are available on those, plus mobile phones (Android, iOS) and Nintendo Switch. The game also launched on newer consoles like PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. All the newer modes like Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, Fortnite Festival, and Fortnite Ballistic are available on all platforms.
Contents
Explore Fortnite Game Modes
Fortnite has many different ways to play, all using the same game engine and art style. Epic Games and its teams create and manage most of these modes.
- Fortnite: Save the World is a team-based game. Up to four players work together to complete missions. You collect resources, rescue survivors, and defend important objects from a big storm. Players act as commanders of home bases. You earn in-game items like hero characters, weapon plans, and survivors. You can level these up to make them stronger.
- Fortnite Battle Royale is a player-versus-player game for up to 100 players. You can play alone, in a pair, or in a squad of three or four. Players jump from a "Battle Bus" onto the game map. Then, they search for weapons, items, and materials to build with. The goal is to stay alive and defeat other players. As the game goes on, a toxic storm shrinks the safe area of the map. Players caught outside the safe zone take damage. This forces everyone closer together until only one player or team is left.
* There are also special versions of Battle Royale: * Zero Build removes all building. * Reload lets players respawn (come back to life) for a short time after being defeated. * OG brings back the classic map and weapons from the game's early days. * "Party Royale" is a social area where players can hang out and attend virtual concerts.
- Lego Fortnite is a platform for games made with Lego bricks.
* Odyssey is a survival and building game. You play as Lego Minifigures, collecting materials, building structures, crafting tools, and fighting monsters. * Brick Life is a social game focused on open-world exploration and interaction. * Lego Expeditions is a team adventure mode. Up to four players pick different hero types and customize tools to defeat enemies or solve puzzles.
- Rocket Racing is a fast-paced racing game made by the creators of Rocket League. Players race vehicles, getting speed boosts from special lanes or by drifting. You can also jump and race on walls or upside down, while avoiding obstacles.
- Fortnite Festival is a rhythm game made by the creators of Rock Band. It has three modes:
* In "Main Stage," you play popular songs and original tracks. You hit notes to the rhythm on different parts like Lead, Guitar/Bass, Drums, or Vocals. * "Battle Stage" has sixteen players competing for the highest score. Players are eliminated each round until only one remains. * In "Jam Stage," players work together to create music remixes. You can use parts of any song from Festival mode. These remixes can also be used in Battle Royale and Creative.
- Fortnite Ballistic is a tactical shooter game where two teams of five players face off. It's similar to games like Counter-Strike. One team tries to plant and protect a device while it charges. The other team tries to stop them and disarm the device. Between rounds, players can buy weapons and gear with money earned in previous rounds. Ballistic is the first Fortnite game to let you play in a first-person view.
Besides these main modes, Fortnite also has Fortnite Creative. In this sandbox mode, you have total freedom to use any item from Battle Royale on your own private island. You can create your own games, like battle arenas, race tracks, or jumping challenges. Creative also supports Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). This tool lets players edit worlds using powerful features from the Unreal Engine and Fortnite items. You can even create custom Fall Guys and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games that can be played within Fortnite.
All Fortnite modes except Save the World are free to play. Save the World requires a purchase. The games make money through V-Bucks, which is an in-game currency. You can buy V-Bucks with real money, or earn them by completing missions in Save the World. In other modes, V-Bucks are used to buy cool cosmetic items like character outfits or the game's battle pass. A battle pass gives you rewards as you play and gain experience during a Battle Royale season.
The battle pass system has grown. Now, there are also a Music Pass for Fortnite Festival and a Lego Pass for Lego Fortnite. You can earn progress for these passes by playing any Fortnite game mode. The Fortnite Crew, a monthly subscription, now includes all three passes (main battle pass, Music Pass, and Lego Pass) along with extra cosmetic items.
All Fortnite modes support cross-platform play. This means you can play with friends on different devices, like a PlayStation player playing with an Xbox player. You just need an Epic Games account to save your progress across all platforms.
How Fortnite Was Made
Fortnite: Save the World (2011–2017)
Fortnite started as an idea during a special game-making event at Epic Games around 2011. The idea was to mix building games, like Minecraft, with shooter games. This led to the beginning of Fortnite.
Development of Fortnite took a while. The team switched from one game engine (Unreal Engine 3) to a newer one (Unreal Engine 4). They also wanted to add more role-playing game elements to make the game last longer. The art style changed from dark to a more cartoonish look. Epic also wanted to try a "games as a service" model, where games are updated over time. This also slowed down the development.
Epic finally released Fortnite as a paid early access game in July 2017. The plan was to make it free-to-play later, after getting feedback from players. When Fortnite Battle Royale became popular, the original game was named "Save the World." Epic decided to keep Save the World as a paid game, and it officially left early access in June 2020.
Fortnite Battle Royale (2017–2018)
Around the time Fortnite first came out, another game called PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was a huge success. It made the "battle royale" game style very popular. Epic Games realized they could make their own battle royale mode using the Fortnite game. They quickly developed it in about two months.
In September 2017, Epic was ready to release this new mode. At first, it was going to be part of the paid early access. But then, they decided to release it as a free game called Fortnite Battle Royale, earning money through in-game purchases. This game quickly gained players, with over 10 million in just two weeks! Epic then created separate teams to work on Fortnite Battle Royale and Save the World. This allowed Battle Royale to come out on more devices, like mobile phones and the Nintendo Switch.
Fortnite Creative (2018–2023)
A creative sandbox mode called Fortnite Creative launched on December 6, 2018. This was at the same time as Season 7 of Fortnite Battle Royale. In this mode, every player gets their own private island. They can build anything they want and add objects. Players can invite friends to their island to play unofficial games like race tracks or jumping courses. At first, only players who bought the battle pass got an island. But a week later, on December 13, it became free for everyone.
Fortnite Experiences (2023–Present)
In March 2023, Epic released the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). This is a special tool for Windows computers. UEFN lets creators use powerful features from Unreal Engine 5 and Fortnite items to make new game modes within Fortnite Creative. This was sometimes called "Creative 2.0."
In October 2023, Epic changed how the main Fortnite game looks. Now, it shows Epic's own game modes and many creative modes as part of "Fortnite Experiences." It's a bit like how Roblox presents different games. This was followed by three new Epic-made games in December 2023:
- Lego Fortnite, a survival game made with The Lego Group.
- Rocket Racing, an arcade-style driving game made by Psyonix.
- Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game made by Harmonix.
All these new modes are free to play and connect with the game's battle pass system, offering new rewards.
Many improvements to UEFN were announced in March 2024. These include better character graphics and more items from Lego, Rocket Racing, and Fall Guys. Epic also said that future Fortnite Battle Royale seasons, starting in late 2025, will be made using UEFN.
See also
In Spanish: Fortnite para niños
