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Fortnite’s revenue has been slowly but surely decreasing despite its incredible popularity, and player spending has fallen by 52 per cent from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019, as reported by data analyst Edison Tech.
Fortnite has had multitudes of crossover events that came with exclusive cosmetics and items, including Batman, Borderlands, Stranger Things, and Avengers. Edison Tech claims that in-game purchases increased on an average of 110 per cent per month from November 2017 through May 2018, with a sudden spike in December 2018, but now Fortnite’s finery and its battle pass seem to no longer be à la mode.
Over the span of one year, Fortnite sales continue to climb but player spend in Fortnite has dropped by 52 per cent. It is possible that the controversial conversation surrounding loot boxes and microtransactions has discouraged players from purchasing cosmetics, V Bucks, or the battle pass. ‘It is unacceptable that some companies with millions of users and children among them should be so ill-equipped to talk to us about the potential harm of their products,’ Damian Collins MP said, regarding gambling regulations being applied to games.
A report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee went so far as to say that there is a ‘lack of honesty and transparency’ among social media and game company representatives. Lots of games have changed their approach to microtransactions and loot box mechanics, but the Edison Tech statistics seem to show the message has been heard loud and clear by consumers.
Edison Tech has also compared Fortnite’s fiscal performance to three battle royale titans: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. PUBG pales in popularity compared to Fortnite, but has enjoyed much more stable sales figures. From Q2 2018 to Q2 2019, in-game spending in PUBG has only dipped by two per cent.
Apex Legends boasts the most loyal player base, unexpectedly. 62 per cent of Apex Legends players made repeat purchases in the months of June and July 2019. And finally, PUBG and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 revenues are primarily derived from game sales as their communities hardly ever spend on G-Coins and Points: accounting for only four per cent and 19 per cent of player profits respectively.
