Season 6 of Fortnite could attract kids

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Epic Games

The introduction of three pets in the Fortnite game is not an attempt to draw more money from players, says an expert.

Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at IHS, believes the goal is to attract more players.

The three pets – a dog, a chameleon and a dragon – were unveiled as part of Season 6 of the hugely popular game.

Players who buy a Battle Pass for the 950 Fortnite V-Bucks (£ 8) get the pets as part of the package.

"I do not see this as a money grab, because it's an aesthetic and optional upgrade, identical to all the improvements proposed in Fortnite," Harding-Rolls told the BBC.

"Pets are perfect for the younger audience and can get more girls to play," he said, adding that most of the survival players are men.

Epic Games, who created Fortnite, may be turning to pets to diversify his audience as he tries to keep the game relevant, he said.

"The way that Epic implemented the pets – sitting in the backpack – offers another way to engage the user through an emotional connection without complicating the experience," said Mr. Harding-Rolls.

Elena Fedina, deputy director of research at the analyst firm SuperData, had no doubt that the animals would encourage players to buy the Battle Pass.

In the past, she said, popular cosmetics had resulted in a significant increase in revenue, adding that one of the most memorable was Raven's skin at $ 20. This proved so compelling that Epic had to apologize for the problems for which he had processed the payments.

"There has been a 25% increase in the number of players after the introduction of skins and a 33% increase in the monthly turnover," Fedina said.

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Blizzard

School course

Fortnite Season 6, subtitled Darkness Rises, began on September 27 and introduced several other changes, including new "skins" for players, invisibility bonuses, and changes to the main map.

Much of Fortnite's new season's attention has been drawn to the introduction of pets, and many of them have pledged to buy a pass so they can get one of the digital creatures. The pets stay with the players even if they are eliminated and "rezzed" during a match.

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Twitter

Everything went well on launch day for Epic, who had to apologize for a brief V-Bucks payment processing problem.

The game also attracted comments on social media, the York Regional Police in Ontario urging people to pay attention on the roads. He said the launch meant many people were late for school and asked them to avoid speeding to reach their destination.

Parent Heather Busseri in the United States noted that her child went to school wearing two different shoes and accused Fortnite for this mistake.

Others have also commented on social media just how eager young people were to experience the new season.

Fortnite is regularly played by more than 75 million people around the world and is the most watched game on the Twitch streaming site.

According to one estimate, Epic earned more than $ 100 million (76 million pounds) a month.