Fortnite became one of the most popular games on the market

Innovation

The gamers’ practices are immersed in innovative contexts where multiple elements interact. Firstly, the systems or platforms which physically support the game. Second, the practices created by the game in the fan community, where the gamers interact with cultural industries within the framework of social media.

Fortnite can be played on any platform (mobiles, consoles, PC) so that the game can be shared regardless of the mode used to access it. Furthermore, the game is divided into seasons, it varies over time, adding episodes or thematic elements, in a similar fashion to television series.

Approaching to Fortnite

To analyse fan practices and communities around this game, as present in social networks, a quantitative outlook supported by big data analyses was combined with a qualitative outlook to probe into the data from an analysis of their thematic content.

We combine big data and discourse analysis. A system of categories was hierarchically set around three dimensions related to the initial questions guiding research.

Main research questions

  • How does the game context impact fan practices? If some years ago game mechanics aimed at resolving problems, obliging the gamer to overcome obstacles almost always individually, today the context is socially defined and in one way or another, this is present in the rules of the game.
  • How does Fortnite help to generate specific social communication and participation settings among fans? Although the game is free, its economic model conditions fans’ practices and their interactions. Game settings defined by monetization processes.
  • How do fans participate in Fortnite communities through expressive and creative productivity strategies? By playing they begin to increasingly clearly perceive what the goals of the game are and especially the need for online support to be able to play against others or learn from their creations.

Summing up

Playing Fortnite is a new experience for someone who is used to traditional videogames, and all the more so if the person writing about the game does so from an academic outlook. The online world has generated a constant presence of interactions in the fan community, where cultural industries are present. As a result, the game experience and the practices of the gamers, who are also Fortnite fans, are transformed.