Epic Touts a Million Players Taking Part in Battle Royale on Its Opening Day

Yesterday marked the free release of the Fortnite Battle Royale game mode and it seems to have scored big with players. According to the Fortnite Twitter account, over a million players "partied on the Battle Bus" during the Battle Royale opening day.

Over 1 million players have partied on the Battle Bus during the first day of Battle Royale! Thank you and party on! ?????? pic.twitter.com/Tdqnk8YClb

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) September 27, 2017

Of course, last week's sniping by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' studio, BlueHole, probably didn't hurt to raise consciousness about the Fortnite version of Battle Royale. Though since clarified that it's more about the partnership and licensing about Epic's engine, it originally sounded like sour grapes with regard to perceived similarities between the two games.

From our original article:

BlueHole is eying Fortnite's upcoming Battle Royale mode for what it perceives as too many similarities to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The company is looking at the game play style as well as Epic Games using PUBG in its promotional material and communication with press and its community. According to BH CEO Chang Han Kim, "The PUBG community has and continues to provide evidence of the many similarities as we contemplate further action".

The development team for PUBG has no relationship to Fortnite’s development as concerns around User Interface (UI), gameplay and structural replication in the battle royale mode exist.

Whether or not there will be legal action filed remains to be seen, though the language used by Mr. Kim is indicative that this is an angle the company is exploring.

Whether or not yesterday's success will hold or if it was more of a "curiosity factor" will remain to be seen. 

Did you play Fortnite's Battle Royale yesterday? What did you think?