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Editor: Hamish Inglisgames@theboar.org

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Games24

Editor: Hamish Inglisgames@theboar.org

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GamesWhy Fortnite is our game

of the decade

Over the break, our writers have written up their game of the dec-ade picks. We saw The Last of Us, The Witcher 3, my choice Celeste

and even Virtue’s Last Reward to name a few, but I think we all got it wrong. Although still brilliant in their own right, none of these have been anywhere near as influential in not only gaming but globally as the true champi-on. The game that we all love, or love to hate, will define what we play in 2020 and years beyond. I am of course talking about Fortnite.I know what you are all thinking, how can this spawner of the most cringe-inducing memes of the last few years be the game of the decade? The game has more going for it than the ‘floss’ and other borrowed dance moves which people love to imitate, not least of which being Fortnite is just fun to play.

The car- toony island battle-ground is a joy to explore, and week- ly challenges and con-s t a n t updates keep game-p l a y fresh, be it new

modes, items o r even chang-

ing the en-tire map

during a m a s s i v e

in-game e v e n t . F u r -t h e r -more, t h e r e i s

s o m e -thing ex-hilarating a b o u t g e t t i n g your first el imina-

tion, your first Victory Royale or even your tenth or o n e - h u n -dredth. Bat-

tle-royales all share that intensity,

as you watch the numbers whittle down un-til it is just a 1v1 fight, with either victory or bitter second place if you choke, and Fortnite is no exception.

Though Fortnite can go beyond the con-fines of its in-game world. Leaching into and from ours in many ways, even before their World’s Collide event. Most obviously are the online creators, the likes of Ninja, La-zarBeam and Myth being just three names that have skyrocketed because of their sym-biotic relationship with the game. Fortnite has also seen crossover with some of our world’s biggest franchises – Avengers, Bat-man and Star Wars have brought skins, items and game modes to the island. If you have ever wanted to know who would win a fight between Black Widow and Catwoman or Kylo Ren and John Wick, Fortnite can pro-vide the answer.

However, Fortnite has gone above and be-yond. The developers, Epic Games, have tak-en their success and fundamentally altered the gaming landscape in ways larger than spawning more battle-royales. One of their largest contributions being the Epic Games Store.

When Valve’s Steam has operated a practical monopoly in the PC digital store-front market for the entire decade, the Epic Games Store has offered it the first real com-petition. Epic certainly has its issues, with some of its rival’s features still missing, but its treatment of other developers has shown compassion, something hard to come by in business. Epic has helped given security to indie creators who no longer need to worry if their first game will bankrupt them, gives all developers a generous cut of their sales (Epic takes only 12% of sales rather than Steam’s 20-30%) and goes to show that the status quo can always be shifted.

Additionally on the business side, Epic announced in 2018 that creators on the Un-real Engine Marketplace would not only be receiving a better cut (Epic again taking only 12% rather than the 30% they did be-fore) but that they would receive back pay. This meant that Epic would return money to vendors for every sale that was made since the digital storefront’s 2014 as if the split had always been 12-88. At the time Tim Sweeny, the CEO of Epic Games, credited Fortnite’s

success as a reason for this change.Furthermore, Epic and Fortnite finally de-

molished the Sony cross-play dam, unleash-ing a tidal-wave that even Minecraft, the most sold game of all time, could not. This feature, that players have demanded for years, is guaranteed to become a staple for releases going into the 20s. No longer will gamers be bound by their consoles, but friends across Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo devices, as well as PC, can finally come together and appreciate what they love as a collective.

So even though Fortnite is not my fa-vourite game ever, I have no doubt in my mind that it is the kind of game we do not see often and, to be hyperbolic, may never see again. It has changed what gaming will look like going into 2020 w h i l s t simultaneously enter- ing the wider cultural zeit- g e i s t in an unignorable way. Everyone has heard of Fortnite. Eventu-ally the fad will die down, it always does, but I do not know which ‘next big thing’ will top the peak Fortnite set. What I do know is that noth-ing else came close to top-ping this jug-gernaut from 2010-2019. It might not be my game of the decade but Fortnite is the game of the decade.

Hamish Inglis explains why the Epic game won for the 2010s

Royal Leamington Spa often portrays the air of a place you might want to retire in. However, for a significant portion of the UK’s gaming industry,

they instead know Leamington as "Silicon Spa", the place where you can find world-re-nowned studios like Ubisoft and Playground Games alongside over 40 other companies of varying size and stature. Checkpoint Leam-ington, headed up by Shaun Wall and Mag-gie Tan of Unit 2 Games, hope their monthly event can combat the typical dog-eat-dog scenarios of business and show that gaming culture is inherently about coming together,

The lowkey monthly get together for game developers to unwind and relax as a collective outside their stressful work environments of fixing bugs and playtesting on repeat. It is the place to talk shop but also unwind and enjoy gaming as a hobby not just a job.

Shaun and Maggie had initially been dis-appointed by the lack of any such gathering when they came to Leamington. The tight-knit community they had expected was not here, Leamington was not quite the San Francisco of Britain they believed it to be. Maggie and Shaun were keen to reignite the social gatherings which had petered out a few years ago, tired of waiting for someone else to take it upon themselves, and in just a few months have built up a popular event.

My experience of Checkpoint has been fascinating, learning the history of Leaming-ton games development from the people who have lived through it, finding out more about upcoming projects and just chatting about all things gaming with experts and profession-als. Though my enjoyment goes far beyond just networking and building contacts within an industry I hope to enter. As someone who has always been more into games than most of my close friends, it was a truly brilliant experience to converse with people for hours about gaming, rather than subjecting them to my usual overzealous monologues. While I am certain these same interactions can occur online, on Twitter or in subreddits, these re-al-life equivalents made my favourite hobby feel that little bit less niche.

If you are passionate about games, either from a development or journalism perspec-tive, Checkpoint Leamington is an amazing event to attend. Shaun and Maggie are keen to increase student attendance, believing that creative industries only continue to thrive by inspiring the next generation. If you are keen to find out more check out @checkpoint_leam on Twitter or head to checkpointsocial.com!

Checking out Checkpoint LeamingtonJames Thambo

Checkpoint Leamington is an amazing event to attend

The game has far more going for it than the 'floss' and other

borrowed dances

Epic and Fortnite finally demolished the Sony

cross-play dam

Nothing else came close to topping this juggernaut from

2010-2019

Check out @checkpoint_leam on Twitter

» Images: Epic Games » Image: Checkpoint