Fortnite breaks record with 44.7 million players, Epic Games thanks the community

Fortnite broke its own record with the largest one-day player count in history. After six years and countless taunts of "dead game," Epic Games has released data that has shattered all expectations. According to the metrics, between November 3 and 4, 2023, there were 44.7 million players jumping into the game. This resulted in over 102 million hours of playtime.

As such, they even set a new record for the most concurrent players in-game, which stands at six million. It is unclear if this is a new personal best, but ever since metrics were made available to the community earlier this year, this has been the highest count.

It will be interesting to see if they can beat these numbers in Chapter 5 Season 1. This is taking into consideration the recent map leak, which has already become a talking point. Some even speculate that there may be some procedural generation involved, but for now, the focus is on Chapter 4 Season 5.

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"To all Fortnite players, OG and new, thank you!" Epic Games thanks community for support after breaking player count record

Coming back to the record-breaking metrics, it also explains why many players were left on the waiting in the queue screen for over 20 minutes on launch day. In fact, the waiting in queue screen is still a common occurrence. Although the wait time has drastically reduced, at times, players have to remain in queue for around six minutes on average.

Here's what Epic Games had to say about the achievement:

"Way to start things off with a big bang! We're blown away by the response to Fortnite OG. Yesterday was the biggest day in Fortnite’s history with over 44.7 million players jumping in and 102 million hours of play. To all players, OG and new, thank you!!"

It is clear that Epic Games has struck gold with the OG season, and it most definitely shows. Given the sheer volume of players and playtime, Chapter 4 Season 5 is likely going to be one of the most successful seasons yet.

Here's how fans and notable community members reacted to Epic Games' post:

As seen from the numerous comments, the community is overjoyed with how things are at the moment. With the game returning to its roots and simpler mechanics, players unanimously agree that things should stay this way forever.

Many have even reported that the game runs smoother than usual, given that many elements have been removed. There are no NPCs, Wildlife, Environment Wildlife, or any of the fancy things that were present in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4. As a result, the game runs like butter on low-end devices as well. However, this is not permanent.

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Chapter 5 Season 1 will come with all the bells and whistles

Although OG Fortnite has won the hearts and minds of the community. it will not stay for long. Given recent leaks regarding the next major phase of the storyline, Epic Games is working on major projects.

There is a rumored LEGO collaboration in development. It may feature an open-world and user-generated content within those worlds. There is also talk of a racing mode codenamed Del Mar. It will feature cars from Rocket League.

Lastly, there seems to be a minigame in development in collaboration with Fall Guys. Players will be able to cosplay as "Beans" and waddle around obstacle courses.

As such, Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 will come with all the bells and whistles imaginable. NPCs and Wildlife will return, graphics will be more enhanced than they are at the moment, and dynamic gameplay elements will be added back. Nevertheless, this brief return to simpler times has been good for everyone, even if it's only for a month.