The season-ending event, “The Device”, saw record-breaking numbers as the viewer turnout. The event had already been delayed before due to the civil unrest in the US over the death of George Floyd.
As Midas’ Doomsday Clock hit midnight, The Device bombarded the present map with explosions, and then it got submerged into the sea. These were the unforeseen consequences of Midas’ attempt to stop the storm. The part where the map gets submerged into the sea serves as a teaser for the Aquaman presence in the next season of Fortnite Battle Royale.
There were some 12 million in-game players, and a further 8.4 million watched via Twitch or YouTube. The event marked the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3 for the Battle Royale game.
Large events like this are likely to become the norm, thinks one expert. Fortnite is one of the world’s most popular online multiplayer games, with 350 million registered players according to developer Epic Games.
The Doomsday event had come with a warning from Epic that servers might reach capacity quickly and when they did, it recommended gamers watch the event via Twitch or YouTube.The servers for this live event crashed as they reached capacity 30 minutes before the show started. Around 12 million players came online to witness the event in-game. This is around 300000 players short of the highest viewer turnout in-game at 12.3 million players, during the first Travis Scott concert.
Afterwards the firm tweeted: “We were overwhelmed by the response to The Device. At 12 million players in-game we capped participation for stability while 8.4 million more watched live on Twitch and YouTube. As we push the edge of what live events can be, we’re improving systems so more of you can experience them in-game.
We were overwhelmed by the response to The Device. At 12M players in-game, we capped participation for stability while 8.4M more watched live on Twitch + YouTube. As we push the edge of what live-events can be, we’re improving systems so more of you can experience them in-game. pic.twitter.com/YTycsB1Zoh
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) June 16, 2020
