Fortnite Android and iOS Revenue Could Pass $500 Million By End of 2018: Report

Fortnite iOS has been a bonafide success since launch with revenue surpassing the likes of Pokemon Go and Candy Crush Saga and finding a place in the top 10 grossing list on iPhone in 23 countries. Now it seems that Epic Games’ battle royale title has earned $25 million (approximately Rs. 165 crore) in its first month on iOS according to research firm Sensor Tower. The average daily player spending in the game topped $1 million worldwide on Apple’s store and Fortnite has been second only to Netflix in terms of the amount US iPhone users have spent in it so far this month.

With a Fortnite Android release date on the way, the company suggests Epic Games could make $500 million (roughly Rs. 3,200 crore) by the end of 2018.

“Epic Games has yet to divulge when Fortnite will launch on Google Play, but, should that happen by summer—and if the title is able to maintain its current hysteria-level popularity among gamers for a few more months—our estimates indicate the game could be poised to gross more than $500 million by the end of 2018 across both platforms combined,” writes Sensor Tower’s Head of Mobile Insights Randy Nelson.

Almost two weeks back Sensor Tower speculated that Fortnite could earn more that $3 million a day (approximately Rs. 19.50 crore) when it hits Android, "once the Android user base grows to a comparable size in relation to iOS". Though given the number of battle royale options present on that platform along with the ad-driven model being par for the course, it would probably take a lot longer for Epic to hit that milestone on Android if at all.

Previously, Sensor Tower reported that Fortnite iOS made over $1.5 million (around Rs. 9.7 crore) worldwide in its first four days. In the first 72 hours, the game earned $1 million (close to Rs. 6.5 crore). Compared to competing titles in the battle royale space, Fortnite has earned more than NetEase's Knives Out and Rules of Survival by a factor of more than 25 in its first four days, compared to the same period after both those titles began monetising.

In addition to this, it appears to be punching above its weight when compared to other giant mobile game hits of recent years. "Fortnite’s revenue is also impressive when put into perspective against some of the largest mobile game launches from the past two years. Purely based on cosmetic IAP, it has managed to gross about one third as much as both Pokémon GO ($4.9 million) and Clash Royale ($4.6 million) made in their first four days of availability on iOS," claimed Nelson.

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