Fortnite's success in 2018 was unprecedented according to a report recently released by data analysis firm SuperData. According to the researcher's annual report, Fortnite has achieved the "most annual revenue of any game in history" for the year 2018. The record cement's Fortnite's legacy and makes clear just how profoundly the battle royale genre has impacted the video game industry.

According to SuperData's research, Fortnite managed a staggering $2.4 billion in revenue in 2018, a significant percentage of the free-to-play market's $87.7 billion in revenue overall. It reached this amount purely through maximizing sales through its battle pass system and microtransactions, many of which were limited in availability. SuperPass estimates that as many as 34% of Fortnite players purchased the game's battle passes regularly, which makes clear why games including PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and even Rocket League have implemented battle pass systems in 2018 as well.

While SuperData attributes Fortnite's success to many things, three pillars stand out. Fortnite's availability on mobile devices, availability in Asia, and free-to-play format are core to its success, as each market grew impressively in 2018. Fortnite did much more than that to achieve such overall success, of course. That it is available worldwide, across most major platforms, and features cross-platform play are all important aspects of growth as well.

And finally, equally important but much less quantifiable, is the game's success on streaming platforms. Ninja, 2018's breakout online gaming personality, built his support base entirely by playing Fortnite and the results are profound. His viewership is more than the second and third highest channels combined. Twitch, the service which Ninja streams on, now accounts for 31% of gaming video content revenue online. And interestingly, SuperData claims that almost half of viewers under 25 are influenced by the games they watch online, noting 2/5ths of Fortnite's viewership is under 25.

Whether or not Fortnite's success continues into 2019 isn't something SuperData forecasts, though it does assume that the Asia market will diminish somewhat. Fortnite's popularity does seem to be trending downward, but that only begs the question: what game could possibly replace it?

Fortnite is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices.