GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Fact Sheet (2017) GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Fact Sheet Fortnite (2017)

Component 1: Exploring the Media PART 1: STARTING POINTS – Media industries Social and cultural contexts: Focus areas: Media industries The global videogame industry has been growing since the early days of Atari home entertainment Audiences in the 1980s. In recent years, the diversity of game

genres and platforms on which they can be played PRODUCT CONTEXT has meant an explosion in the gaming industry. • Produced by , the Fortnite Based on a 2015 economic forecast videogame franchise is a series of multiplayer free- sales are expected to reach $90 billion by 2020. to-play battleground games available on a number of platforms and devices. It was launched in July 2017 In 2014, it was calculated there were 1.8 billion • The franchise includes Fortnite: Battle Royale, gamers in the world - 25% of the global population. Fortnite: Save The World, and Fortnite: Creative This challenges the stereotype of gamers as young geeky men. In 2018 in the USA, 28% of gamers • Fortnite: Battle Royale is the most successful were under 18, but 23% were over 50 years old. free-to-play videogame ever, making $1.2 There was a 66/44% male/female gender split. billion in the first 10 months of release. Initially, players had to buy ‘battle passes’ to play, but in September 2018 the Battle The range of genres - from first-person- Royale version was offered for free. shooters to puzzles and learning tools - has • The Fortnite franchise had revenue varied the demographic for gamers. The variety of £2.4 billion in 2018 of platforms - not just home consoles, but on tablets and smartphones - that high quality, • The franchise has helped make Epic complex and engaging games can be accessed Games a hugely successful company. In has also led to the growth of the industry. 2012 they were worth $825 million; in 2018 they were worth $5.8 billion. • Fortnite: Battle Royale won ‘Best Ongoing Gaming has increasingly become a social activity. Game’ in the PC Gamer and IGN awards in 2018. In 1997 Ultima Online became the first on-line multiplayer game, and since then socialising in Gameplay the game world has become an everyday activity • Players, in groups of 100, are dropped via for millions of people, usually geographically a flying bus onto a deserted island that is far apart. People develop alliances, friendships about to be hit by a natural disaster. and even romantic relationships as their game • The aim of the game is to fight to the death, characters. ‘eSports’ - live competitive gaming with the last player standing the winner. events between celebrity players has also Players seek out weapons and other materials, become popular, attracting millions of viewers but are also able to demolish structures through sites like Twitch and even packing huge and rebuild them into forts, towers etc. stadiums like traditional sporting events. • As the game continues, the storm starts to Consider the impact of new encroach, driving the players into smaller technology and convergence: and smaller areas and forcing conflict. • One of the things that have made Fortnite • In terms of genre, Fortnite could be considered so popular is the ability to access the game as fusion of battle games (like Battlegrounds) from consoles, PCs, laptops, smartphones or and construction games (like Minecraft). tablets. You can also download it for a range of operating systems. Not only this but you 1 GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Fact Sheet

can move, mid-game, between devices without Consider different funding and profit models: interrupting gameplay. This means it can be • Fortnite is an example of the ‘Games as played at home, or on the move, on a tiny a Service’ (GaaS) model - where there screen or a video projector. This is a good is a constant revenue stream from ‘in- example of technological convergence. game purchases’ after the initial purchase • Epic Games use an operating system called (or providing the game for free) to develop Fortnite. They • Some of these are ‘micro transactions’ have made this available on their website, and where players pay for weapon, costume encourage their audience to use it to develop their and game upgrades rather than ‘grinding own games. Unreal Engine has also been used through’ the gameplay to score them. In by professional game developers to create titles Fortnite, players use V-bucks to purchase like Batman: Arkham City and . these items, and these can be earnt in the • Fortnite is also a good example of cross-media game or bought using ‘real world’ money. convergence, where more than one media brand Another game that does this is Candy Crush. or form joins to promote each other. Fortnite is • Unusually in Fortnite the upgrades are purely the most viewed game on YouTube, and has also ‘cosmetic’ i.e. they don’t actually affect the used streaming platforms like Twitch (owned gameplay. They often consist of new ‘skins’ by Amazon) to broadcast live competitions. (to alter your character’s appearance) and • It has also incorporated other media brands ‘emotes’ (victory dance moves after a kill). and franchises. In collaboration with Marvel These are only available for a short period of Studios, there was a special Avengers: Infinity time, increasing their value and encouraging War segment and recently a tie-in with Godzilla. players to pay rather than ‘grind’ for them. The format of Fortnite means that any kind • Another revenue stream for GaaS titles is to of costumes, weapons and games can be offer ‘season passes’ - like a subscription that introduced to keep the game fresh. Films/TV/ allows you to access new content over the sports can promote their brands to over 20 course of a period of gameplay (the ‘season’) million of players, whilst famous collaborations that play-for-free users can’t access. keep Fortnite in the news and social media. • Fortnite offers players ‘battle passes’ and then • Epic Games has a good relationship with drip-feeds limited edition and exclusive content various non-gaming celebrities such as to these players over the course of the season. Drake and basketball star Ben Simmons. Consider regulation of the media: This helps to promote the game beyond the traditional gaming market. • Age ratings are systems used to ensure that entertainment content, such as Consider Epic Games as an institution: computer games, are clearly labelled by • Epic Games was started by Tim Sweeney in age according to the content they contain. 1991 and was originally run from his parent’s Age ratings provide guidance to consumers house. These humble beginnings may explain (particularly parents) to help them decide Epic’s decision to make the Unreal Engine whether or not to buy a particular product. available to amateur games designers. The rating on a game confirms that it is • In 2014, the Guinness Book Of Records suitable for players over a certain age. named Unreal Engine as the ‘most • In 2012 the PEGI system was incorporated successful videogame engine’ into UK law and The Video Standards • Epic Games owns video game developer Council was appointed as the statutory Chair Entertainment and cloud-based body responsible for the age rating of video software developer Cloudgine, and has sub- games in the UK using the PEGI system. studios in the UK, Japan, and Germany. • Fortnite has the PEGI rating of 12 for “frequent • Tencent - a Chinese investment company scenes of mild violence”. It seems that parents focused on internet and AI development are more concerned with issues surrounding - bought a 42% stake in Epic in 2012. addiction than the levels of violence.

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PART 2: STARTING POINTS – Audience celebrities. Ninja, the most famous Fortnite Historical and Political Contexts player has over 10 million subscribers and earns over half a million dollars a month. Ninja The relationship between videogames and audiences ranks highest in the world for social media has been a controversial area, with many moral interactions (i.e. people posting or sharing panics. These ranged fears that violent games using their name - no.2 is Christiano Ronaldo! encourage copycat behaviour, to worries about • This creates gamer celebrities that have become addiction and the amount of ‘screen time’ that aspirational role-models for some audiences. is healthy. Fortnite, when compared to other successful titles like Grand Theft Auto or Call • The use of non-traditional gamer celebrities Of Duty contains very little explicit or realistic such as rappers and NBA athletes widen violence, and the cartoon-like graphics also the appeal of the game. The popularity make the game suitable for younger players. of ‘Twitch Girls’ (female streamers like KatyPlaysGames) has also appealed to women. In addition, there seems to be little racism or misogyny expressed by the players compared • Fortnite’s use of ‘seasons’ - with rumours to other videogames - perhaps because free and gossip about future seasons - follows players are randomly assigned race and gender the cable TV/ on-line subscription ‘skins’ at the start of each round. Critics have style of long-form TV drama. also praised the collaborative nature of the Consider active and passive audience responses: gameplay that encourages players to work together • The basic gameplay of Fortnite: Battle Royale and protect each other (until the finale). is interactive and collaborative, encouraging The main concern seems to be about addiction: players to work together. By being able to with reports from teachers and parents that children deconstruct and rebuild the game environment, are distracted from school work due to their players are encouraged to be creative. engagement. One psychologist even compared it • Fortnite: Creative is a different format that to heroin! There have been reports that Premier allows even more creativity in designing League footballers were being treated for addiction, ‘skins’, ‘emotes’ and landscapes. and Prince Harry said the game is ‘dangerous’. • In addition, Epic Games have made Consider the way media industries their operating system Unreal Engine target audiences: available (at a price) to encourage the • Fortnite has used a combination of addictive next generation of games developers. gameplay, media/technological convergence Consider theoretical perspectives: and marketing to target a diverse and varied • Blumler and Katz’s ‘Uses and audience. 78% are male, 22% are female, 53% Gratifications’ theory considers why are 10-25, and 42% are in full time employment. people interact with media texts. • The unrealistic violence and cartoon- • Fortnite - along with many videogames - could style graphics, along with the emphasis relate to the ‘escapism’ and ‘catharses’. on construction as much as killing, make • However, the collaborative nature of the it appealing to a younger audience. gameplay could also provide social interaction. • The rise of ‘eSports’ stars, mainly consumed • The use of gamer and non-gamer celebrities via streaming platforms like YouTube and could also relate to the search for role-models Twitch (where Fortnite is the most watched that contribute to personal identity. This game) has led to players becoming major could be linked to Dyer’s ‘Star Theory’.

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