Did Galactic Battle tank the Fortnite player count?

One thing odd is occurring with Fortnite participant counts, and a few individuals are pointing fingers at Fortnite Chapter 6, and extra particularly, Galactic Battle. Chances are you’ll not have observed in case you’ve been fortunately dropping off the Battle Bus and hitting up the First Order/Resistance Base, Outpost Enclave, or Samurai’s solitude, however Fortnite just lately hit its lowest player count in two years. 

That feels odd as a result of the final Fortnite replace might be a dream come true for Star Wars and sci-fi followers. Not solely has the final season been steeped in Star Wars content material and areas, however with the Fortnite Battle Go renamed the Galactic Battle Go, and providing treats like an Emperor Palpatine pores and skin, Apprentice Evie, Twin Pairing Blades, and Twin Blaster, there’s been the same old mixture of skins, objects and tweaks to the BR map. So, and we’re undecided methods to say this, do individuals simply not like Star Wars? Or is there a deeper concern?

One factor’s for positive: there’s no ignoring the figures for anybody, like us, retaining observe. Fortnite.gg reports that to date, June has seen the Fortnite common participant depend dip beneath the 1 million mark. It’s greater for the final 30 days, however not by a lot. Not solely is that this the bottom participant depend for 2 years, since Might 2023, however the drop seems to be half of a bigger downward development which will show worrisome for Epic Video games’ Fortnite.

Regardless of a quick spike in mid-February this 12 months (simply earlier than Chapter 6 Season 2), 30-day common participant counts have dropped constantly since December 2, or at some point after the launch of Chapter 6, and proper after Fortnite Remix. It was fairly standard, in fact, returning some gamers’ best Fortnite weapons, and noticed a mean participant excessive of over 4 million. So might it’s that after Remix, many gamers have realized the sport simply isn’t for them anymore, with a quick journey in the direction of nostalgia bursting the bubble? 

That’s potential, however we have to take an extended view: The comprehensible (and first rate) reputation of Fortnite Remix matches in with a normal vacation season bump. When you return to the Holidays in 2023, the top of November additionally noticed a 12 months’s excessive of seven.6 million common Fortnite gamers. By means of early 2024 and towards the summer time, participant counts dropped, identical to they’ve in 2025. 

One concern right here is that 12 months on 12 months, 2025 common participant counts are trailing 2024 by roughly 800,000 gamers every month. Notably, although, one of many worst months for Fortnite in 2024 was Might (2.4m), the place the 2024 Fortnite Star Wars occasion happened. It was solely second in poor efficiency to June (2.1m).

Are individuals uninterested in Star Wars in Fortnite now, and considerably listlessly ready to wave off 2025’s Death Star Sabotage Fortnite reside occasion? Are they hoping for a extra fulfilling Fortnite Battle Royale for C6:S4 and a few rejuvenation of the Fortnite map? Perhaps. Maybe returning to a theme lined in June 2023 with Discover The Power and Might 2024 was a mistake, and there have been some shouts of ‘cash seize’ from some quarters.

The IP will not be a favorite for some Fortnite gamers, however Chapter 6 Season 3’s response at the very least appears combined. For instance, YouTuber Extra SypherPK has requested: “Was the Star Wars Fortnite Season a Mistake?”. In a considerate commentary, he lands on ‘no’, hoping it might show useful for future seasons with reference to suggestions for Epic Video games. That doesn’t imply it was good, although.

Degenerate Jay, in his video, “Star Wars Fortnite is Terrible”, calls the season “terrible”, citing the entire thing as a “miss” when a everlasting Star Wars mode might have been the higher possibility with a redesigned map and full dedication to the theme. 

There are different concerns, although, and perhaps it’s not Star Wars’ fault in any respect. The smaller group at Epic will not be delivering the content material Fortnite gamers need. When information broke in September 2023 that Epic Video games was shedding 870 workers, a few of whom would inevitably be engaged on Fortnite, issues have been clear. Nevertheless, Fortnite was already trending up in common participant numbers for 2023, and in November of that 12 months, Fortnite OG hit, making it simple to overlook or ignore the unhealthy information.

The truth that common gamers have been typically lowering since Fortnite OG could also be symptomatic of a perceived lack of creativity from Epic in Fortnite content material. However Fortnite’s financial mannequin is completely different from the way it as soon as was, and it’s price remembering that in September 2023, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney launched a statement about Epic’s layoffs, explaining:

“Whereas Fortnite is beginning to develop once more, the expansion is pushed primarily by creator content material with vital income sharing, and it is a decrease margin enterprise than we had when Fortnite battle royale took off and started funding our enlargement. Success with the creator ecosystem is a superb achievement, but it surely means a serious structural change to our economics.”

Whereas Fortnite is not ‘rising’ based mostly on current traits, if there’s a tiredness with Star Wars Fortnite, or any apathy in the direction of Fortnite gameplay and content material basically, it will not be a fast and straightforward repair. An injection of cash and creativity from Epic will not be potential, particularly if it’s navigating an current plan to take care of and develop the participant base going ahead.  

In Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 4, you’d hope the one manner is up: For content material, for the gameplay, for enjoyment, and in the end for common participant numbers, if solely as a result of meaning extra individuals are having fun with the sport once more. Objectively, it will likely be fascinating to see, as a result of whereas the brand new season is predicted to be ‘tremendous’, such a theme might have a broad sufficient attraction to halt Fortnite’s downward participant development. 

Traditionally, that’s been the case for July, being Summer season correct, and getting a lift due to that, noticed July 2023 and 2024 each with reported will increase of 100,000 common gamers. That might be vital if it occurred once more, placing the common participant quantity again above 1 million. It wouldn’t be large, however it could be a begin. On condition that a few of the greatest Fortnite skins are hero-themed, this might be an actual alternative for Epic to ship an superior new season with lovable content material that makes gamers need to neglect about Star Wars Fortnite. 

In the end, whereas it has had a combined response and is one other return to the Star Wars theme, it’s tough to say that Galactic Battle has tanked the Fortnite participant depend. A minimum of decrease participant numbers should not purely right down to it. 

There’s a longer-term downward development in common gamers, which can level to a normal lessening in curiosity or a slight dip earlier than a return to type. We’ll keep watch over issues to see which of those bears out, and within the meantime, we’re trying ahead to the following season to climb the Fortnite ranks but once more.