How many players tried Fortnite Battle Royale in its first two weeks?

More than 10 million players tried Fortnite Battle Royale in its first two weeks. That early milestone showed Epic Games that the new free-to-play mode had outgrown its role as a side project.

Fortnite originally launched as Save the World, a paid cooperative survival game in which teams gathered resources, built defenses, and fought zombie-like creatures. Epic added Battle Royale in September 2017, drawing on the popularity of PUBG while using Fortnite's existing engine and building mechanics.

The rapid audience growth led Epic to organize separate development teams for Battle Royale and Save the World. Although the modes continued to share technology and some art assets, Battle Royale received a much faster stream of updates, map changes, seasonal events, and cosmetic content.

The 10-million figure refers to players during the first two weeks, not simultaneous users and not Fortnite's total lifetime audience. Later milestones were much larger: Epic reported 20 million players by November 2017 and more than 125 million within the first year.