Epic Games' multiplayer shooter Fortnite makes a huge amount of money each month. In March alone, the game generated more than $200 million in revenue, raking it in from microtransactions as players purchase (in-game currency) V-Bucks in order to unlock cosmetic skins. But how many players contribute to the game's astonishing revenue?
LendEDU, a student loan platform, set out to answer that question by surveying 1,000 Fortnite players about their spending habits. LendEDU found that 68.8% (688 of those surveyed) say that they have spent money on the game and on average, these players have spent $84.67 each. This means that between them, those 688 players have spent just over $52,000 on the game.
58.9% of Fortnite players who have spent money on the game did so in order to access cosmetics. This is unsurprising given that there is a huge amount of cosmetics available in the game. Players are able to get skins for their characters, their tools, and there are new emotes as well. This also explains why Epic Games adds so many cosmetics to the game with its regular updates – the greater variety the greater likelihood of fans being interested in something and the higher chance that they will spend money.
The survey responses also revealed that for 36.78% of Fortnite players who have spent money, this is the first time that they have spent money on in-game unlocks. While Epic Games will be glad that it has inspired players to finally spend money, other developers and publishers will be taking note, too.
There are plenty of ways for players to spend money in games these days, including loot boxes, DLC, and many games feature cosmetic unlocks, too. Fortnite's ability to get players spending on this content may have a substantial impact on the revenue of other games with these business models.
Other interesting findings include the fact that 35.12% (more than one in three) Fortnite players surveyed said that they have skipped school in order to play. That includes 14.58% who said they'd skipped "a lot" of school to play the game and 20.54% who said that they had skipped school, but "not much." Parents are already concerned about how much their children play the game, but some will wonder whether it's worth being concerned about college-age students, too. Either way, it just highlights how big of an impact Fortnite has on its players, to the point that its players want to do little else with their time.
Source: LendEDU