Netflix is wisely concerned about every other entertainment provider, not just TV or YouTube.
A few comments have wondered about Fortnite being a bubble, which it certainly is.
But keep in mind that Fortnite did something very similar to Netflix...they dropkicked an industry bent on selling blockbuster titles which just rehash the same content from the previous year. They upended the business model.
So of course Fortnite will diminish in popularity over time. But Netflix knows enough not to dismiss their business model, their stickiness, and it’s implications for their future.
> But keep in mind that Fortnite did something very similar to Netflix...they dropkicked an industry bent on selling blockbuster titles which just rehash the same content from the previous year. They upended the business model.
No, they really didn't. Fortnite did absolutely nothing new. They literally copied the models that were used by League of Legends and Player Unknown Battlegrounds, and many other games.
Epic Games wasn't the kicker. They were the kicked.
Fortnite's popularity is only an incremental step up from the games whose models they imitate. Right now as I type this the number of viewers for Fortnite is 168k. Dota 2 is as 118k. League of Legends is at 106k. At times, Fortnite is below rather than above these games. It varies.
> A few comments have wondered about Fortnite being a bubble, which it certainly is.
Bubble doesn't mean popular. It means speculation leading to inflated value not backed by real value.
There are cycles fueling Fortnite's popularity. The biggest part of this has nothing to do with Fortnite itself and everything to do with people watching others play video games. It used to be that streamers had few people watching them. Now people can make millions because there are that many people watching.
This utterly changes the content creation dynamic. It incentives good content, because good content gets rewarded with money. If you watched online streamers several years ago, many of them were awkward. These days, many of them could very easily be a radio host or walk out onto a stage and do comedic impressions. They are entertainers as much as gamers.
Fortnite is just an incremental step in the virtuous cycle free to play games enjoy. Free advertising produced for good games by extremely talented content creators leading to more players and viewers.
I think Fortnite’s accessibility contributed also to its success as well. A player each on a computer, phone, and game console could all play together. Combined with being free-to-play as well as generally a low time investment (short matches, many enter/exit points, etc) it’s a very accommodating game for socializing.
>Fortnite's popularity is only an incremental step up from the games whose models they imitate.
For the context of those viewing on Twitch, yes. But Netflix loses a viewer if they decide to play Fortnite rather than continue subscribing to Netflix.
Fortnite is ridiculously popular, especially in the 14-24 demographic. I haven't seen (or looked for) good unbiased numbers, but I'd wager Fortnite is multiple times more popular than the next game in terms of daily active users.
Of course, gamers are fickle and friends who play Fortnite have been complaining about recent updates so this could change in months.
The few top games do have an order of magnitude more players than the next.
Current player - Game
981,175 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
792,842 - Dota 2
638,022 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
119,344 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
90,968 - Grand Theft Auto V
i was at a company that was acquired by disney. In the welcome speech, the person(Iger maybe?), asks us who we think disney's competitors are. Everyone thinks of the obvious ones, but the eventual point was that anything that takes a person's attention is competing.
A few comments have wondered about Fortnite being a bubble, which it certainly is.
But keep in mind that Fortnite did something very similar to Netflix...they dropkicked an industry bent on selling blockbuster titles which just rehash the same content from the previous year. They upended the business model.
So of course Fortnite will diminish in popularity over time. But Netflix knows enough not to dismiss their business model, their stickiness, and it’s implications for their future.