FORTNITE SHAKING THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

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FORTNITE SHAKING THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
FORTNITE
SHAKING THE MEDIA
AND ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY
FORTNITE SHAKING THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
In the year 2000, the dawn of the social        is now 200 million players strong, and            Interestingly there are predictions that the
media age, a video of a muscular man            Ninja (one of its pro-players) is the first       Fortnite star is on the wane, with strong      These are the 5 lessons we can learn
dancing at a parade became one of the first     gamer to appear on the cover of ESPN              competitors such as Apex Legends hot           from Fortnite’s success:
viral videos in the history of the Internet.    magazine. Fortnite’s relevancy is in part         on its coattails. However, it represents a
                                                because it mirrors and enhances culture           clear example of new relevant cultural                          Recycle, don’t
In the 20 years since ‘The Techno Viking’,      in terms of: how content is created, how          shifts with the power to disrupt the                            re-invent
the landscape has drastically changed, and      media products are consumed in the                media and entertainment industry.
the Viking’s popularity is now just one of      era of cross device multi-tasking, and
thousands of other memes and viral videos       how a product’s value is defined in the           Brands and content creators can learn from                      Trigger
resigned to the depths of internet obscurity.   experience economy (where experiences             Fortnite’s success, and use Fortnite as a                       consumption
                                                                                                                                                                  cycles
                                                are as valuable as physical products).            window to spot relevant emerging trends
But, the Viking’s dance moves are regaining                                                       which will impact how their audiences
increasing popularity, and surprisingly, it’s   As a cultural phenomenon, Fortnite’s              consume, create and share media products.                       Inspire influencers
the gaming industry who are responsible         success is partly due to its ability to recycle                                                                   and fans
for it. Space Invaders, Mario, Warcraft,        formats and content, and partly due
Grand Theft Auto (and many others) have         to the fact it has tapped into a virtuous
changed the way we think of gaming and          cycle of influence. It is a space where                                                                           Show social
entertainment. However, not many games          creators, fans and celebrities can meet,                                                                          interaction value
                                                                                                                                                                  to parents
can claim to have been as commercially          populating a creative and commercial
and culturally relevant as Fortnite.            bubble where Fortnite becomes more
                                                famous through celebrities, and celebrities
                                                                                                                                                                  Tap into the
Epic Games, the studio behind it, has been      gain more exposure through Fortnite.                                                                              virtual economy
valued at more than $15 billion. Fortnite
FORTNITE SHAKING THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
RECYCLE    Fortnite is holistic. It merges the best ideas   Is a Massively Multi-

DON’T
           from its predecessors across cultures,           Player Online Game
           to create a new, cohesive and complex            (MMOG), like World
           product. At first glance and looking at          of Warcraft or Tera

REINVENT
           its individual elements, Fortnite is not
           particularly new or ground breaking. Just
           like other games, Fortnite:                      Has a ‘battle royale’
                                                            mode, like Player
                                                            Unknown’s Battlegrounds
                                                            and inspired by The
                               Is free-to-play and
                                                            Hunger Games, and
                               multi-platform
                                                            the now cult movie
                                                            Battle Royale

                               Makes money
                               through the sale of          Has a Cartoon-like
                               ‘cosmetics’, such as         depiction of violence,
                               outfits, and gadgets         already very popular
                                                            in anime – Dragon Ball
                                                            Z or One Piece – and
                                                            even in movies and
                               Is a third person
                                                            TV Shows such as Sin
                               shooting game
                                                            City and Happy
FORTNITE SHAKING THE MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
So, why is it so popular? Fortnite owes its         the social fabric of society. When players      FORTNITE ABSORBS,
success to its ability to merge all of these        find themselves online during ‘events’
elements, in a holistic and integrated              (like when the time space continuum             RECYCLES AND REFRESHES
way, creating a final product which goes            broke and all characters were transported
beyond the sum of its individual parts.             to a parallel universe) they describe it        POP AND ONLINE CULTURES
                                                    as a full and meaningful experience.
Its fragmented narrative is also inspired by                                                        Some of the Fortnite dances are original,
popular TV content. The Fortnite story is so        Players who have ‘lived’ through the many       but the most talked about are inspired
complex and narratively driven it could be          changes of the island describe themselves       by other popular pieces of content, such
mistaken for a season of Lost. Its universe is      as experienced, separating them from new        as Saturday Night Fever, The Fresh Prince
structured just like a seasonal TV show. With       players (noobs). By establishing hierarchies,   of Bel Air, Pulp Fiction and viral videos
each new season comes new challenges,               players are more invested in the game and       like the Backpack Kid (the boy who
outfits, themes and cosmetics. The element          motivated to play which, in turn, prompts       brought flossing to the mainstream).
most affected by the season renewals (and           them to invest more in their character.
the true protagonist of the storyline) is the                                                       Using pre-existing content without
island itself. It is in constant flux and remains   By doing this, it creates an immersive          acknowledging or rewarding the authors has
visibly marked by Fortnite’s evolution.             experience in constant expansion. Fortnite’s    sparked questions on copyright and even           Backpack kid
                                                    cultural references span from ‘70s disco        accusations of cultural appropriation. Fortnite
                                                                                                                                                      Image source: www.tes.com/news/fortnite-
Fortnite also adopts a narrative structure          to Tarantino’s movies, from ‘90s sitcoms        may be ‘ripping off’ original content, but        classroom-floss-dance-craze-sweeping-schools
which mirrors classic event TV content,             to viral memes. This is probably best           crucially, it is also promoting its resurgence.
which creates talking points and cultural           demonstrated by its emotes - the funny
moments which embed themselves in                   dances characters can do inside the game.
TRIGGER       The pattern goes:                              mentioned the original source time after

CONSUMPTION   1. The game copies a viral video move;
              2. S
                  omeone recognises it and creates
                 a video/meme/article linking it to its
                                                             time. This creates a link between the game
                                                             and the movie and it is possible some kids
                                                             would then decide to consume the original.

CYCLE            original source (because few things make
                 us feel better than telling others how
                 well versed we are in internet culture!);
                                                             Furthermore, Fortnite is loved by celebrities
                                                             who established a reciprocal relationship
                                                             with the game. An example is when the
              3. T
                  eens start watching the video             superstar pro-gamer Ninja was joined by
                 and share it on social media.               the rapper Drake in a match of Fortnite. The
                                                             game was live streamed on Twitch and
              Suddenly, content once confined to the         drew a record 635,000 concurrent viewers.
              depths of the internet, is viral again.
                                                             This relationship with celebrities also helps
              Let’s consider the case of a dance inspired    Fortnite reach new audiences and gain more
              by the movie Dumb & Dumber. The movie          popularity in the sport world, for example
              is pretty much unknown to Fortnite’s           when the footballer Antoine Griezmann
              young audiences, but the many articles         celebrated a goal by performing the Fortnite
              and YouTube videos about the move, have        dance “Take the L” at the World Cup.
Griezmann’s
                                                               World Cup
                                                               Celebration

                                                     Fan                      Fortnite’s
Potentially unbeknown to Griezmann,               Imitations                 “Take the L”
‘Take the L’ was inspired by the 2017 remake
of Stephen King’s IT. The dance journeyed
from the film to Fortnite and then to football,
weaving a complex cultural web along
the way. Memes and gifs of Griezmann’s
celebration spread across the internet.
People began imitating the footballer, who
was imitating a Fortnite cosmetic which                         Stephen
was in fact inspired by a horror movie.                         King’s IT
It is possible that some of the Fortnite
players might have ended up watching IT
because of Fortnite, inverting the circle!
Drake is not the only celebrity in love        These relationships between Fortnite
              with Fortnite. Sport celebrities like Julian   and its celebrity players offer a constant
              Brandt and artists such as Finn Wolfhard are   source of mutual inspiration, creating
              strengthening the ties between Fortnite        a posse not dissimilar from a creative
              and the sport and entertainment industries.    group shaped around a popular artist.
              With Ninja as an ESPN cover figure and
              the opening of the 100,000 sqft. E-sports      Despite all the hype Fortnite has generated
              Stadium in Arlington, the gaming and           from celebrity fandom, it has remained
              e-sport industry is set to sky-rocket.         grounded and user focused at its core.
                                                             Users can get involved by offering feedback
              At the same time, traditional and new          on ways to improve the game and with
              media collide through Fortnite. The            opportunities to be part of content creation,
              game is appreciated by other creators          through dances competitions or skin
              of pop culture such as movie directors         designs. For example, the Tender Defender
              and writers, giving birth to content           skin was added to the game’s wardrobe

INSPIRE       cross overs like the successful Fortnite
              x Avengers: Infinity War mashup.
                                                             after an 8-year old’s drawing went viral.

INFLUENCERS
AND FANS
Fortnite has been accused of being: addictive,      time spent playing Fortnite and possible
                   violent, not safe for kids, and (amongst its        contact with strangers. However, being
                   adult players) a major cause for divorce. At        part of a generation who grew up with
                   the same time, the World Health Organisation        consoles, they recognised parallels between
                   (WHO) classified excessive gaming as a              current critiques of Fortnite and those
                   potential mental health issue, triggering           voiced about time spent watching TV and
                   polemics and discord in the gaming industry.        playing on their Atari 30 or 40 years ago.
                   But, what do Fortnite’s young players and
                   their families think about the game? To             On the other hand, parents would still like
                   understand this, we talked to British children      to have more control over the time and
                   and their families in collaboration with the ISFE   money their children spend online. It is clear
                   (Interactive Software Federation of Europe).        there is little awareness about the ‘parental
                                                                       control’ tools already in place which enable
                   The perception of Fortnite that emerged from        parents to set time/spending limits, lock
                   our interviews was a much more positive             games deemed as not age appropriate,
                   one than that depicted by mainstream                and limit in-game communication.

SHOW SOCIAL
                   media. As opposed to making kids more
                   insular, Fortnite actually increased social         The industry does try to promote these tools
                   interaction with friends, both on and offline.      to parents (either on a pan-European basis,
                   It helped them develop team-working skills,         through the PEGI age rating system or, with

INTERACTION
                   and in some cases, replaced other insular           national campaigns like askaboutgames.com
                   behaviours, such as time spent on video             in the UK), however, there is still work to
                   streaming sites or playing on their own.            be done when designing communication
                                                                       and information resources which fit around

VALUE TO PARENTS   Parents’ concerns were mainly around                parents’ busy lives and schedules.
“I’D RATHER BUY MY                             relationships with other inhabitants of
                                                             the same immaterial community, virtual
              KIDS A NEW TOY OR PAIR                         accessories and cosmetics gain a very
              OF SHOES THAN A SKIN                           similar value to their ‘real-life’ clothes
                                                             or physical toys. In this scenario, virtual
              ON FORTNITE!”                                  recognition, prestige and possessions
                                                             communicate identity and status just
              Parents are confused by an emerging trend      as material goods do so in ‘real life’.
              involving the value of virtual purchases.
              They struggle to understand why their          For the younger generation who grew up
              children want to spend an average of           surrounded by social media and online
              £30 on intangible outfits for their virtual    personas, there is little difference between
              characters, especially when considering        the value of physical and virtual possessions.
              that skins are purely aesthetic and make no    A new skin carries the same cultural
              difference to improving actual gameplay.       capital as the latest branded trainers.

TAP INTO
              If we take a wider lens, it seems children’s   Since its emergence, virtual has been
              preferences for virtual products is just a     considered the opposite of or alternative
              symptom of a broader cultural change.          to ‘real’. However, this belief has been
              Western society is shifting towards            called into question with new technologies

THE VIRTUAL
              virtuality and the experience economy and      and societal changes. Virtual worlds are
              Fortnite’s popularity merely exemplifies it.   becoming an extension of our everyday
                                                             realities. Fortnite shows us how our
              When children spend so much time               virtual experiences have consequences

ECONOMY       in a virtual world, developing deep            on our tangible world and vice-versa.
The borders between both realities are        the equivalent of Fortnite’s island in your        Advertisers: looking for new and non-             WE DON’T KNOW HOW
seemingly arbitrary when Griezmann            content?                                           disruptive ways to assert a presence in these
goes viral doing a Fortnite dance at the                                                         new virtual worlds. How could you populate        LONG THIS FORTNITE
World Cup and a skin designed on paper        Online sellers: understanding the strategies       the game without creating noise? How can          PHENOMENON WILL
by a player is created into code. The shift   and culture behind V-Bucks (in-game                you refer to Fortnite and other virtual worlds
towards virtuality is already showing its     currency).                                         to add extra value to your products and
                                                                                                                                                   LAST, BUT WHAT WE DO
relevance in the music and entertainment                                                         services?                                         KNOW IS THAT IT
industry, as showed by the Abba avatar        Media broadcasters: making the most out
tour project or DJ Marshmello’s set           of cross-media experiences, understanding          Sport industry: evaluating the impact of
                                                                                                                                                   REPRESENTS A NEW WAY
which (attended by millions on Fortnite)      how to guide audiences’ consumption of             E-sports for younger generations. How can         OF INFLUENCING THE
transformed the game into a music venue.      your content across different platforms.           the Fortnite experience be translated from
                                                                                                 kids’ homes to stadiums? How can this be
                                                                                                                                                   MEDIA INDUSTRY AND
What does this mean for brands?               Entertainment industry: exploring the              done for other games?                             CULTURE AT LARGE.
                                              best way to recreate virtual events. How to
With 50% of the EU population now             recreate an event which is not just a virtual      Gaming industry: understanding the needs,
playing video games and with the cultural     copy of the physical one, but makes the most       fears, and hopes of players and their families.
shifts towards virtuality and experience      out of the creative liberties offered by virtual   How can you develop a product reconciling
economy, comes great opportunities for        reality?                                           parents and kids’ needs?
brands and media.
                                              Manufacturers: finding new ways to bridge          Policy makers: to understand the value of
Fortnite can inspire:                         the gap between a new generation focused           the virtualisation of consumerism and the
                                              on virtuality and an older generation’s need       possible educational and entertainment
Content creators: developing new              for tangibility. Could you deliver a tangible      opportunities represented by video games.
storytelling and characters. What could be    gadget with every virtual purchase?
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