Fortnite’s newest Chapter 3 season 2 was released last week, with the removal of one key feature: building. An update soon after added a Zero Build game mode, but building is still not available in the main battle royale, focusing the game more on combat than resource gathering.
While the change might not be permanent, feedback has been popular during the first week. Fortnite’s streaming numbers have been on a slow decline since the 2018-19 boom. In July of 2018, the game hit its live streaming peak at almost 53 million hours watched in one week with about 300,0000 average concurrent viewers (CCV). About 1.3 million unique channels were streaming the game at its height as well.
In the last 6 months, however, Fortnite has been averaging about 2 million hours watched a day, or 15 million hours a week. With the release of the newest chapter and Zero Build mode, the game garnered over 10 million hours watched on the first day. The next week after, it averaged 4 million hours watched each day, double the average before the release.
In the first week of the new season’s release, the top five live streaming channels all had over 100,000 hours watched each. Typical Gamer took the top spot with 159,000 hours watched on YouTube Gaming. The other 4 channels stream on Twitch; Auronplay came in second with 136,000, eliasn97 took third with 115,000, Amar had 109,000 and ibai 101,000 had hours watched. 25% of the top 100 Fortnite channels last week streamed on YouTube, while the rest were on Twitch.
It will be interesting to compare this season’s release to others, to see if Zero Build mode will have a lasting interest with streamers and viewers. At first glance, it seems like the change has been welcomed, renewing interest by providing a new way to play a game that has been so popular for so long.
For more insights delivered directly to your inbox every week, sign up for our newsletter.
