The history of in-game events for Fortnite goes back to its very beginnings. Even before it became a place for huge digital concerts, Epic Games designed its battle royale title as an ever-changing place, with things like volcano eruptions, huge icebergs, and similar occurrences.
Starting with 2019 and the Showtime concert, that process kicked into a higher gear. Just a year later, the game set its old concurrent player record, when a Travis Scott concert during the COVID-19 lockdown period attracted 12.3 million players. The record stood until recently when Remix Final managed to overcome it. Besides the 14.3 million players in the game itself, millions more tuned in to watch it on YouTube and Twitch.
Previously, nearly 10 million gamers watched the concert of Ice Spice and Snoop Dogg, showcasing that the end of 2024 will likely be very good for Epic Games. Presently, the only bigger record is one created for the Marvel season finale in 2020, featuring Galactus. Back then, there were a record 15.3 million players in the game. The data shows that Fortnite’s appeal is not dropping and that the game is capable of bridging new and old for the purpose of both keeping old players and attracting new ones. This ability could spell out a very interesting 2025 for user-generated content creators, as well as the players who are engaging with their work.
Fortnite's Remix Finale managed to combine a range of elements, all of which turned out to be highly appealing to players. Besides Snoop Dogg, the game involved Eminem, whose character appearance was inspired by The Big Band in-game event from 2023.
Furthermore, there was a custom-made anime-like sequence that referenced the mecha vs monster battle from 2019. The appearance of Ice Spice was followed by the final part of the event, which paid homage to the late Juice WRLD, a hip-hop artist and Fortnite player. The homage was a delicate issue, as the game was showing love and respect to a figure who passed away years ago and inside of tragic circumstances of substance abuse and mental issues. However, the Fortnite team managed to pull it off in a manner that was unanimously declared to be nearly perfect for its intended purpose. Once more, this shows that the developers behind the Fortnite ecosystem have both the vision and the tools to create these first-ever events and do it because of their own passion.
There has been a range of leaks and reveals related to the content that is coming to Fortnite. There is little doubt that Epic Games will double down on all manner of live events, especially those that revolve around global music superstars.
In the near future, the game should kick off a collaboration with Demon Hunter, an extremely popular anime and manga series. There are also rumors that show a big focus of Fortnite on Japanese-themed art and aesthetics, which will be in some shape or form. These facts are essential for the year to come, along with the UGC islands are currently either being built or planned. When this is combined with Epic Games' plan for its tooling and developer support, it seems that a big resurgence of Fortnite Creative is very much in the cards for the coming 12 months.
Months ago, the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, stated that the company finally achieved fiscal stability. This came after nearly a year of instabilities and other issues, like mass layoffs. Now, it seems that this abundance of funds is finally making a difference not only for the game but also for its players and creators. In the period to come, Fortnite will have a great opportunity to mix developer support with new features and options, especially in the UEFN, with publicity for its big in-game events. This way, the company can entice new players to its ecosystem which will immediately turn into a big boon for Fortnite creators, which can again see rising player numbers. With that, their islands will see more action and thus, more revenue.
This simple formula is dependent on funds, but now it seems that the money is primed for use, allowing for things like Remix Finale. On the other hand, collaboration with universes like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba could funnel countless additional manga and anime fans from a completely separate direction. If that streak can continue well into the next year, Fortnite's position in the UGC arena could dramatically improve.
