We all know that Fortnite is big: The biggest game in the world by some measures. Ninja's recent Fortnite livestream with Drake crushed Twitch's concurrent viewer record with more than 630,000 people watching simultaneously at one point, a mark that was beaten just this week by a Spanish-language stream on YouTube that pulled in nearly 1.1 million concurrents.
Those are impressive moments by any measure, but according to “influencer marketing platform” Matchmade, Fortnite has now surpassed an even bigger milestone—Minecraft—to become the most-viewed game on YouTube. Minecraft has long dominated YouTube's videogame scene, accumulating billions of views per month. It's been in a slow decline since last summer, however, and while Fortnite has yet to hit Minecraft's lofty peak heights, it has now pulled ahead of it, breaking 2.4 billion views in February and climbing even higher this month.
Fortnite is also leaving leaving its more direct competitors in the dust. Clash Royale, the biggest mobile game on YouTube since March 2016 (minus a brief Pokemon Go interlude) has entered an accelerating decline since Fortnite showed up, and PUBG viewership has leveled off as well.
“The pace of Fortnite’s growth is astonishing. Between January and February, Fortnite’s viewership grew a whopping 151 percent,” Matchmade wrote. “During the past 6 months, The average month-to-month growth rate of Fortnite viewership on YouTube is +97 percent. Content creators are on board, and we’ve seen the number of Fortnite videos jump from 9945 (Feb 1st) to 12762 (Mar 1st) in just one month—an increase of 28 percent.”
Matchmaker cited a few possible factors behind Fortnite's spectacular YouTube growth. Some are obvious: Fortnite is free and available on just about every relevant platform while PUBG is restricted to PC and Xbox One and will set you back $30, and Fortnite is shiny and new, something Minecraft definitely is not. But YouTube also made changes to its algorithms in August 2017, “which changed how content is discovered” and also coincides with the beginning of Minecraft's and Clash Royale's decline.
YouTube's lead of gaming content Ryan Wyatt chimes in.
There's also the obvious explanation: You can ride your own rocket like it's a TNT-packed Fortnite hoverboard—or as Matchmade put it more prosaically, “Perhaps most importantly, the game is fun to play.”
For a closer look at how it all came to be, don't miss our step-by-step history of “How Fortnite became the biggest game in the world.”
Among the nominees for the Strong National Museum of Play’s 2018 World Video Game Hall of Fame, one game stands out: All the other games are at least 15 years old–including Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Half-Life, and King’s Quest–but Minecraft exited beta in 2011, making it the sole nominee born in this decade. The game has also earned a nod twice before–and it’s been snubbed twice before–in the Hall of Fame’s four-year history.
Arguably, the snubs happened for good reason. Past winners include classic games like Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong, and some of the more modern winners—like Halo: Combat Evolved and World of Warcraft—have had their legacies tested for well over a decade. By contrast, Minecraft is still in active development by Microsoft, and while it’s prompted countless clones in the present day, we can still only guess at its long-term impact.
Then again, the Minecraft-loving masses could finally impose their will this year through a new Player’s Choice ballot. The top three winners will join 27 other ballots cast by industry experts, giving it a greater chance at earning an induction spot–whether it’s deserved or not.
That’s all well and good, as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of Ms. Pac-Man, which should have won a spot even before its male-centered counterpart did.JN
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Calling all gamers to help pick World Video Game Hall of Fame inductees. Twelve finalists were named Tuesday for the class of 2018, pitting “Ms. Pac-Man” against “John Madden Football.”
Also in the running are: “Asteroids,” “Call of Duty,” “Dance Dance Revolution,” “Final Fantasy VII,” “Half-Life,” “King's Quest,” “Metroid,” “Minecraft,” “Spacewar!” and “Tomb Raider.”
New this year, the hall is inviting gamers to weigh in on inductees. Online balloting closes April 4.
A panel of experts will vote as well.
The winners will be inducted May 3.
Jon-Paul Dyson, director of International Center for the History of Electronic Games, says the finalists span decades, gaming platforms and countries of origin.
“But what they all have in common is their undeniable impact on the world of gaming and popular culture,” Dyson said. Both the center and World Video Game Hall of Fame are inside The Strong museum.
Museum officials say thousands of nominations were submitted from more than 100 countries. To be recognized, games must have proven their popularity over time and influenced other games or forms of entertainment. They can be electronic games of any type — arcade, console, computer, handheld or mobile.
About this year's finalists:
— “Asteroids:” Released by Atari in 1979, the game sold more than 70,000 arcade units. Millions more played it at home on the Atari 2600.
— “Call of Duty:” The first-person shooter game drops players into a World War II setting for a blend of action and historic narrative. Launched by Infinity Ward/Activision, the game and sequels have sold more than 260 million units since 2003.
— “Dance Dance Revolution:” Konami's 1998 game spread from Japanese arcades, including to a home version for Sony Playstation.
— “Final Fantasy VII:” The 1997 game introduced 3-D computer graphics and other upgrades to the popular franchise. The game sold more than 10 million units, making it the second most popular game for the Sony Playstation and helped popularize the Japanese role-playing genre.
— “Half-Life:” After its creation by Valve/Sierra Studios in 1998, the game added the ability to modify the game itself, providing countless replay possibilities.
— “John Madden Football:” The 1990 reboot by Electronic Arts became a pop cultural phenomenon that has sold more than 100 million copies.
— “King's Quest:” Sierra On-Line co-founder Roberta Williams in 1984 made her game a hit on personal computers with its unique visuals and irreverent humor. Seven sequels have followed.
— “Metroid:” Nintendo's 1986 game introduced the first playable human female character in a mainstream video game.
— “Minecraft:” A top performer since its introduction in 2009, the game lets players in a worldwide, online community build elaborate structures from pixilated blocks.
— “Ms. Pac-Man:” Midway launched the follow-up to the Pac-Man arcade game in 1981. It became one of the five best-selling arcade games of all time.
— “Spacewar!” was created by members of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Model Train Club in 1962 on a main frame computer. It is credited with helping to launch the multibillion-dollar video game industry.
— “Tomb Raider:” The 1996 game and its protagonist, Lara Croft, inspired a movie of the same name, featuring Angelina Jolie.
The 27 members of an international selection advisory committee will cast ballots for the winners. The three games that receive the most public votes from the new “Player's Choice” voting will count as another ballot.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi recently arrived on Blu-Ray and DVD, giving millions of fans the chance to watch it all over again. But that’s not the only place where you can celebrate your love for Star Wars.
Mojang has announced that it has released a new Star Wars Sequel Skin Pack for Minecraft, which is available through various digital storefronts for the low price of $2.99. You can find more details on its availability over at the Minecraft Marketplace.
The developer worked very closely with both Lucasfilm and Disney to capture that Star Wars essence in the skin pack, which features various characters from both The Last Jedi and the 2015 release The Force Awakens. This includes older Han Solo, General Leia Organa, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Finn, Rey, older Luke Skywalker and Supreme Leader Snoke. This is just the beginning, as a number of characters from both films are available.
This is the latest skin pack to be introduced to the world of Minecraft, as we’ve seen countless ones offered over the years, from The Simpsons to Doctor Who to various Marvel properties.
The Minecraft Marketplace makes it easy to shop for these skins, so you can change up your game on the fly and see what they do for you. This helps extend the replay value of the game tremendously, enabling Mojang to support its millions and millions of fans, who keep coming back for more.
There’s a possibility that this release could lead to other skin packs coming over the course of the year, though the developer hasn’t said a word about what could be coming next. So, for the time being, just enjoy the Star Wars pack that’s currently available, and relive those great memories from both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi – if you’re not doing that from watching the movies, that is.
Check out the trailer above, which features a number of the skins in action, and then get to building in Minecraft for various platforms, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U, as well as a plethora of mobile devices and tablets.
Noxcrew chief executive officer Stefan “Noxite” Panic and co-owner Joe “Avondale” Arsenault both told GamesBeat that working on products for the Minecraft Marketplace is their day job. But the team is way bigger than the two of them.
“We have around 15 members, comprising of level designers, artists, musicians, writers, technicians, and marketing managers,” said Panic.
That’s bigger than a lot of indie studios that are making their own games, and the Noxcrew team thinks that is one of the key reasons their content stands out on the Minecraft Marketplace.
“We produce all our own music, textures, art, sound effects, and voice acting in-house,” said Aresnault. “And for the longest time, we were the only team who could say that.”
The Noxcrew leaders also think that they have found an audience by always trying to build something unexpected. Minecraft is a game about building things, and Microsoft has opened up its tools to enable anyone to begin modding assets. In that world, Marketplace content needs to surprise people while also maintaining a high level of quality.
At the same time, Panic and Arsenault don’t think that this space is closed off to new creators. They both expect a new generation of Minecraft community members to rise up and make their way into the Marketplace.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to get into Minecraft content creation,” said Arsenault. “The technology for the Bedrock Engine is still very new, and the community making content for it is very active and helpful, especially with new creators.”
Panic agrees.
“Noxcrew itself made it onto the Marketplace by ‘just starting to make stuff’ a long time ago,” he said. “I believe in the longevity of the Marketplace and as long as you know how to make your content look good to the public after it’s made, I don’t think it’s ever too late!”
Minecraft will enable you to hang out with some cool people from a galaxy far, far away thanks to its new Star Wars Sequel skin pack. This downloadable content is available now on the Minecraft Marketplace for 490 ($3) or platform specific stores like the Nintendo eShop. It is available now.
Microsoft worked with Disney and Luscafilm to produce this skin pack, which enables players to customize characters to look like the heroes and villains of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. You can play as old Han Solo, General Leia Organa, Poe Dameron, and even Supreme Leader Snoke. Every other major character from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are also included in the bundle of cosmetics.
This skin pack is available for every device that runs an official version of Minecraft.
DLC is one of the biggest ways that Microsoft and Mojang are keeping Minecraft’s revenues up. This is especially important on Minecraft’s Bedrock platforms, which are devices like smartphones, Xbox One, and Windows 10 PCs that run a universal version of the game that all hook into the Minecraft Marketplace.
That in-game store features extra content from The Minecraft Team, but it also is the home of externally developed worlds, skin packs, and more from the community. The Minecraft Marketplace creators are earning a living selling virtual items and maps for the block-building game, and Microsoft gets a cut of those revenues.
By introducing something like new Star Wars-related skins, it could get more people into the Marketplace and spending money on content beyond stormtroopers and Benicio del Toro’s DJ.
