These Are The Games That May Destroy Fortnite

There's no question that Epic Games' Fortnite is a video game phenomenon, and in the time since it launched, the game's popularity has only continued to grow. In November 2018, Fortnite shattered its concurrent player record, with 8.3 million people playing the game at one time, doubling the game's previous concurrent record of 3.4 million the previous February.

The only thing more staggering than Fortnite's player count is the amount of money its made for the studio previously best known for Gears of War and Unreal Tournament, not to mention the Unreal Engine, an industry standard. By July 2018, Fortnite had raked in $1 billion in in-game purchases. Yeah, that's $1 billion in less than a year in release.

Epic has continued to add things to the game in the weeks and months since its initial launch, from new sections of the map and Marvel tie-ins to football gear and carts, ensuring that Fortnite continues to feel fresh. With such massive success and continuous updates, will Fortnite ever fade away? More importantly, what will be the game to replace it?

While it's a longshot, there are a few new and upcoming titles that could fill the void if Fortnite were ever to fall ...

In November 2018, Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham revealed the studio is working on multiple mobile games "across all of our IPs." While many hardcore fans were outraged by the reveal of Diablo Immortal, a new mobile entry in the series set between Diablo 2 and 3, mobile may be just the ticket if the company wishes to reach a more mainstream, casual audience that isn't necessarily prone to jumping into Diablo on PC or consoles.

As Adham explained during a press conference (via PC Gamer), Blizzard is pursuing a mobile Diablo in order to reach "a much broader audience around the world." In other words, people who play games on their smartphones. It makes sense: mobile is the most accessible platform on the market. After all, most people have cell phones.

Releasing games for mobile guarantees that Blizzard's premier action-RPG will be served to more people than ever before. That's something Epic Games knew well when it decided to make Fortnite: Battle Royale available on virtually every current-gen platform (and for free, mind you), including mobile. Reaching a wider audience of players is a no-brainer for Blizzard, especially since so many of its titles already emphasize online multiplayer.

Diablo Immortal is a wise first experiment into mobile versions of Blizzard's list of IP, and if it can stick the landing with an easy-to-pick-up arcade-y hack-and-slash experience, it could find a brand new audience and even topple Fortnite as the world's preferred mobile title.

Fallout is one of the greatest video game franchises of all time for its large, imaginative settings, diverse characters, and epic storytelling that explores themes of hope, love, and loss after the end of the world. But for all of its single-player role-playing genius, there's always been something missing from Fallout: a multiplayer component that allows players from around the world to explore, fight, and rebuild together. That changes with Fallout 76, an online multiplayer RPG that finally allows players to team up and adventure through the Wasteland.

With an emphasis on building/crafting, survival gameplay, and PvP, some are wondering if Fallout 76 might have what it takes to kick Fortnite off its throne. While it's ultimately a bit more complex than what Fortnite has to offer, it's impossible to notice the similarities between both games, and with what will undoubtedly be a hefty mod scene, who knows how Fallout 76 will be reshaped to fulfill the needs of players down the line (let's not forget that the battle royale genre itself came from mods). Whatever Fallout 76 ultimately becomes, it could be the next big thing for multiplayer gaming.

While it's true that we don't know much official information about Halo Infinite, we can surmise a few things from the Slipspace Engine demo video revealed at E3 2018. The video shows UNSC Marines and the Master Chief journeying on a new Halo installation full of wildlife and various terrains to drive your Warthog through.

Halo Infinite developer 343 says that Slipspace will provide "a living, breathing world ripe for exploration and endless gameplay possibilities," which has led some to believe that the game will feature open-world gameplay. Combine that with the fact that the studio is thinking of Halo Infinite as a live service game and you have a new, fully evolved Halo game, which is an event unto itself.

Halo Infinite has some major advantages coming out of the gate, such as the split screen capability which allows more than one person to experience the game on a console, a feature most game companies have ditched in the last few years. This is also the first Halo FPS to come to PC since Halo 2 (a Halo Online PC game was planned in Russia but was later canceled), which will allow the franchise to reach a much wider audience than it has in a decade.

While it's too early to say for sure, Halo Infinite feels like a revitalized Halo game that embraces current gaming trends. Will that be enough to topple Fortnite? Never count out the Chief.