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ELI BLUMENTHAL
Last updated 12:12, 20 July 2018
STUFF
Fortnite is the latest international multiplayer gaming craze.
For Brendan Hickey, the purchase of custom features for his character in the online game Fortnite was about to stand out.
He can now do electro shuffle. Eat popcorn, dribble a basketball or swing a "plunja" pick. Does it help the 22-year-old to move on to the next level, gain more lives or give him an edge by fighting his opponents in one of the world's most popular online games? Nope.
The US $ 140 to US $ 160 (NZ $ 240), he estimates bombarding Fortnite purchases since October distinguishes him simply when he is in the game and helps to bind himself with his friends contest.
EPIC GAMES
"Skins" are looks that you can spend in real money to buy your character at Fortnite.
"It's the first time we're all excited to get on and play the Xbox together," said Hickey, a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut who says his friends are # They are preparing to disperse in the country. "It's the same thing as going out and getting a beer or eating a piece with guys."
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He has a business. Its 125 million players made Fortnite the most profitable free-to-play game. Every day, athletes and celebrities with school-aged kids fall on the brightly colored cards of the game, fighting to survive the other 99 opponents of each match, and spend money to personalize their characters.
according to SuperData Research, beating other games of consoles like Electronic Arts FIFA 18 and Call of Duty Activision Activision for downloads and purchases in the game. This monthly catch finished Pokemon Go at its peak. Between January and May, Fortnite fired more than a billion US dollars, estimates the research firm
because when players launch the game, they bring their wallets into the real world
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Other options you can buy – with real money –
The meetings allow players to show their personality and allegiance with friends and online competitors. In a study conducted by LendEDU on 1,000 Fortnite players nearly 69% made purchases in the game, with an average of US $ 84.67 (NZ $ 150)
. figures, "said Carter Rogers, a senior badyst at SuperData." It has really become part of the culture of having the latest skin, the latest fashion. "
Financial windfall of players buying clothes Customized as a basketball jersey or a hip dance movement is the most successful example of a new trend in online games.In the past, video game publishers have sold in-game features, sales that allowed players to reach higher levels or unlock characters.
Last year Star Wars: Battlefront II game of Electronic Arts attracted the players' anger for a system that incited them to pay to unlock characters like Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker
With Fortnite players fail to defeat their opponents by acquiring a new outfit or obtaining For better weapons, which has only enhanced the appeal of the game. [19659006] It is already on the way to a national obsession, especially with teens and tweens. The popularity of Fortnite has led schools and teachers to complain that students are sneaking into clbad and playing on the phone. Epic Games has added a warning to the game's loading screen warning students to put the screens aside.
Asher Kim, a 14-year-old who lives in Georgia, estimates that he plays about 36 hours a week "unless I'm anchored."
What is the attraction? It's addictive, competitive, and "like The Hunger Games except with guns."
The dance moves or "emotes" that players can buy, some of which are copied to rap artists, have become such a success "
At the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, several players spoke of their love for the video game, with a Fox promotion showing some of their favorite dances. In the final of the World Cup between France and Croatia, the Frenchman Antoine Griezmann celebrated his goal by making the dance "Take the L", a movement popularized by Fortnite . skin is their way of showing their gratitude to Epic Games for making the game free.
Shana Wilcox, who published his Fortnite Feats on YouTube under the name of user SharkysHood, spent only $ 30. The 33-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., Has never been a great player in shooting games, but she enjoyed playing Fortnite .
She only bought a skin, a rabbit costume called Bunny Brawler. , Partly because it was "really cute" and partly fun that the game gave him.
"I had so much fun playing, that it was like" good, the least I can do is buy a skin that I really, really want. "
For frequent players in the game, having a skin can also be considered a virtual sign that you're not a rookie, or "noob" in the game.
Preston William Otterson, a 24-year-old radio host from Lakeville, Minnesota, played Fortnite for nearly six months, drawn into the game by his free appearance.
At first he did not spend anything. But after being called online by his friends to be a "non-skin" – an insult to players who just use the standard avatars of the game – he decided to put money in it.
"I've probably spent about $ 80, which is more than I've ever spent on a video game," says Otterson, spending money to buy outfits, dances and axes.These can cost $ 5 for an entry-level package at $ 20 for a skin.
And given the fun that they have of the game, the players say that the purchase of a feature like wings or a glider is worth it.pay $ 15 per month for Netflix, $ 10 per month for Hulu and I play more Fortnite than Netflix or Hulu, "says Hickey, who occasionally sports the skin of an herbal supervillain named Flytrap.Once he rationalized it like that," there was not too much money to spend. "
Cody Sipe, special investigator for a company that checks the government's history, uses Fortnite to connect with his
Chesapeake, Virginia, Sipe, 24, and his brothers are scattered across the United States, one of whom is in military training in California and the other about to go to the US. University in Florida
"Are all guys, we do not call each other very often on the phone," says Sipe. "We have to be in the same team or joke about who has the worst stats (in the game) … who has the coolest outfits and stuff like that."
Like other online games, players can chat communicate using a headset plugged into their controllers. Although not all sessions are chatty,
"Sometimes we stay there for an hour and only share 10 words because we are busy playing a game," says Sipe
. says he's going to drop a few dollars on a skin or outfit if he thinks it looks cool. One of his favorites: as part of a $ 5 US package, he purchased a Wingman skin, a similar outfit to the Tom Cruise suit in the popular 1986 film.
I've had a moment of weakness where I said to myself, "Damn, I want to look like Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun'" so I bought it, "says Sipe laughing.
– MCT
