Epic's Saturday Fortnite Special Is Ushering A New Era For Gaming Despite Low Viewership

Fortnite just had one of the best events last Saturday when the game featured a choreographed kaiju versus mecha battle in real-time. The latest promotion aims to raise the stakes with each new world, but something is amiss as more and more viewers are leaving casts.

According to the data on Twitch, only 606,000 people came in to view the colossal monster event. The numbers aren't too impressive considering the gaming event does not even put it in the top ten most viewed Fortnite games. In 2018, 1.5 million concurrent viewers tuned in to watch the Celebrity Pro-Am at E3.

In the same event this year, the numbers have fallen by at least 73%. However, experts noted that the game could be viewed real-time, meaning, fewer players are likely to watch at Twitch. If given a chance to watch it on a streaming service or witness the whole thing in-game, I'd instead choose the latter.

In case you're wondering if you'll die watching the two mechas fight, Epic disables combat for the whole duration. No one will be able to kill you in the event as it is yours to enjoy throughout its span.

Still, after looking into the numbers, some critics say that the game is losing its viewership sans the new events. At its peak, Fortnite was able to generate so many views. That trend seems to be going down as people are starting to lose interest in the game.

Despite the weak numbers, Epic has already earned billions of dollars and has turned the title into a gaming powerhouse. As of now, the game still has millions and millions of monthly players, something that will slowly drop in the following years.

Some rumors have surfaced at this weekend's World Cup that a new map is in works for season 10. Certainly Epic is trying to draw new interest despite the low turnouts, but in consolation, the company continues to evolve the game with countless improvements.

As it seems, the company is veering away from mediocracy and is pushing the envelope for more sophisticated events. With the arrival of cloud gaming, we are headed to an exciting era of gaming that allows us to enjoy live in-game storytelling. For sure last Saturday's event is helping to build that future one step at a time.