The rise and fall of Fortnite: Save the World

Fortnite: Save the World’s Early Access was released back in July 2017. The game is set on a contemporary Earth, where a worldwide storm has erased 98% of the total population, and Zombie-like creatures have begun attacking survivors. Initially, the plan was that a full ‘free-to-play’ version would come out in 2018. However, that did not happen, as we will see in this article.

At its very core, Fortnite: Save the World was supposed to have Minecraft-like building features coupled with the ‘struggle for survival’ element seen in various other games. While Fortnite: Battle Royale’s eventual September 2017 release resulted in a lack of focus being given to the original version, the former shared a lot of similarities with Save the World.

Image Credits: Inverse

And now, notable YouTuber nerdSlayer Studios has posted a video shedding light on the reasons behind Fortnite: Save the World’s demise.

The rise and fall of Fortnite: Save the World

The game was first announced at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, merely ‘three weeks’ after the concept was conceived. In the video, we see a detailed analysis of the time and effort that Epic Games put into Fortnite.

The developers ensured that the game would run on Unreal Engine 4, and attempted to seamlessly combine various elements from other titles.

Image Credits: Epic Games

While Save the World was well-received and had a solid player base, Fortnite: Battle Royale burst out in popularity. By June 2018, it had 125 million users, and by March 2019, this figure had doubled to 250 million worldwide users!

In turn, this translated to both players and developers focusing lesser and lesser on the original iteration of Fortnite. In the video, we see various setbacks and personnel changes that happened behind the scenes, which inadvertently affected the original idea.

As time passed, the game further submerged into a limbo and was only played by the ‘original Fortnite buffs’ and a handful of newer users.

Regardless, it had a lot of sentimental value, and is still seen as the place where it all began. Towards the end of the video, we see various problems that Save the World has faced. These include a lack of updates and new content and a pointless and dwindling user base that is continuously attracted to the Battle Royale version.

Of course, this was followed by the eventual announcement in June 2020 from Epic Games that they would end the Early Access, a move met with widespread criticism. Even if the game was not as widely played as the more popular BR version, it still had a lot of sentimental value for older Fortnite gamers who remember where it all began.

You can watch the entire video below.