Even though Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite are radically different games — one is more family-friendly and the other incorporates Rockstar’s infamous sense of humor — there is still a lot Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto franchise can and should learn from Fortnite to improve and sustain their own online game, GTA Online.
Epic Games’ Fortnite offers a free-to-play battle royale game that garnered 125 million players worldwide in its first year. Similarly, Rockstar’s GTA 5, released back in 2013, is one of the most successful video games of all time, having sold more than 135 million copies since its debut. Its online mode, Grand Theft Auto Online, has proven to be both immensely profitable and immensely popular with fans.
Fortnite features an impressive battle royale mode, in which up to 100 players can fight to be the last person standing. Grand Theft Auto added a battle royale-inspired mode in 2018 to its online gaming experience, which featured a twist known as the Trap Door, forcing players to attack each other on a floating platform where defeat means falling into the ocean as the platform shrinks. But even though GTA Online has it’s own battle royale mode, there is still room for improvement, especially when compared to Fortnite.
How Fortnite’s Large-Scale Virtual Events Can Inspire GTA 6
Metaverse is a concept used to describe a virtual-reality environment in which individuals can interact and enjoy a computer-generated space along with other users. It’s believed that the Metaverse may one day come be a replacement to the Internet, thereby drastically changing the way users interact with each other virtually and online. Though the Metaverse is far off in the future, Fortnite’s battle royale is considered the starting point, as it offers a much more immersive and interactive experience than any other game of its kind. Fortnite has done everything from host concerts to promoting various films in its virtual platform, thereby bringing users together in a completely different way than other games are able to do.
This April, for instance, rapper Travis Scott held a concert inside of Fortnite, which a record-breaking 12 million people are said to have attended. It was the largest concert the game had ever hosted, with 2019’s Marshmello concert coming in a close second at 10.7 virtual concert-goers. “I think we are seeing some very early stage examples of what the metaverse could be,” video game analyst Bush told Motley Fool in 2020. “You see in Fortnite, we’re starting to see live events and things. There was a live concert earlier in the year. There was a live demonstration of a Star Wars event and advertisement that happened there as well.”
GTA Online arguably has an even stronger and larger community than Fortnite, so it would be entirely possible for them to begin taking similar steps. With Grand Theft Auto 6 on the horizon, it would the perfect opportunity to try something new and to capitalize on the success Fortnite has had in creating large-scale, virtual events. Sure, GTA Online has had various small events that players can access while in free roam, but none have been on the same level as Fortnite’s events. But just as Fortnite is said to be taking the first step in the creation of the Metaverse, Grand Theft Auto 6, too, could be the next game to push forward and do the same. It would be no less chaotic than Fortnite’s events, to be sure, but at least the world of Grand Theft Auto Online already has movie theaters.
