In 2018, Fortnite became a full-fledged pop culture phenomenon, one that has turned out to be incredibly lucrative. According to analyst firm SuperData, Fortnite was the top-grossing free-to-play game in the world last year, raking in an estimated $2.4 billion over 12 months. While much of Fortnite’s revenue comes from selling character skins and emotes, SuperData says that 34 percent of all US players also purchased a seasonal “battle pass,” a feature that has since made its way to other online games like PUBG and Rocket League.
For comparison, according to SuperData’s findings, Fortnite made significantly more than established free-to-play games like Tencent’s Honour of Kings, known as Arena of Valor in the West ($1.3 billion), League...