The two games we are going to talk about today seem to be in the media almost daily. Both
are survival games and take inspiration from the Japanese dystopian thriller movie, Battle
Royale. Basically, as the saying goes, it’s a fight to the death. There are other kinds
of game play, such as playing in teams, and a 50/50 mode that was released by Fortnite
Battle Royale on occasions. In that case, players are asked to work together, rather
than just exterminate everything they see. Both games have been received well by critics
and players alike, and have garnered millions of fans in quite a short space of time. But
which is better? That’s what we’ll find out today, in this episode of the Infographics
Show, Fortnite Battle Royale vs. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
We’ll start with Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode. Released in 2017, it was developed by
Epic Games and People Can Fly. It’s available on numerous platforms, and has been compared
to Minecraft, except for the element of having to survive and kill lots of zombie-like things.
Players are dropped into an unforgiving environment, a planet depleted of most of its population.
Players don’t start with much in terms of weapons, but from there they go out and scavenge,
and attempt to be the last man standing.
In its concept, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds isn’t much different. Also released in 2017,
and also available across various platforms, it’s a race to survive. Created by PUBG
Corporation, it was actually released before Fortnite Battle Royale, so it can take some
kudos for that. Again, players are dropped into an unforgiving environment and must scavenge
for things that will help them survive. It’s another last man standing scenario, with this
kind of game now being hailed as the genre of the day.
While the games are similar in concept, they are quite different in how they look. PUBG
has been called more realistic looking; more gritty and militaristic. Fortnite Battle Royale
is a lot more fantasy-esque and looks much more like an arcade game. It’s just a matter
of what look you prefer. As for the maps, new ones keep being released. At time of writing,
it was reported that PUBG will get its third in-game map sometime in early summer. As for
Fortnite Battle Royale's Season 2, that is about to finish as we write this. Apparently,
the next theme will be space, but you will know by now. PUBG has bigger maps, but as
some players point out, that’s not always a good thing. Having to traverse large tracts
of land brings attention to you, which some players don’t like. PUBG has been called
a game in which you have to use tactics more and position yourself better, while Battle
Royale has been called absolute chaos. Again, it’s a matter of taste as to which environment
you prefer.
Now, let’s take a look at at some numbers: PUBG has sold more than 30 million copies
on Steam and a further four million copies for Xbox One. It’s thought, in all, it’s
made about $712 million.
Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode had over 10 million users within two weeks of its release.
It’s also said that this game just topped PUBG in terms of concurrent players. That
was 3.4 million for Battle Royale and 3.2 million for PUBG. This might have something
to do with cost. PUBG costs $29.99 for Xbox One and PC. Battle Royale’s season three
pass can be paid for with game credits you already earned, or you can just pay 10 bucks.
Another thing to mention is that one of PUBG’s biggest markets is China, and Battle Royale
isn’t even available in China yet. In terms of growth, it looks like Battle Royale is
winning, although this has led to problems with its servers. That said, people have complained
about servers for both games.
But what do the critics think?
Both games have gained lots of accolades, with PUBG winning many Game of the Year titles.
Battle Royale hasn’t garnered anything close to the same attention, but it came out later
and time will tell. PUBG got a score of 85 on Metacritic, which aggregates many scores.
It was also called by some “The best multi-player game ever.” Fortnite scored 74, but there
is no separate score for the Battle Royale mode. Yes, people said it is fun, but it didn’t
receive the same kind of superlatives as PUBG did. But things might be changing. NFL Star
J J Watt posted a poll on Twitter in 2018 asking which game was the best and 45,341
people responded. The poll ended with 74 percent of people voting for Fortnite and 26 percent
voting for PUBG. Again, this was not just addressed to the Battle Royale mode for Fortnite.
The various Reddit threads about the topic didn’t show such a difference, with some
people saying they preferred PUBG and others preferring Battle Royale.
So, which game do you think is the best and why? Let us know in the comments. Also, be
sure to check out our other video called Xbox vs Playstation! Thanks for watching, and,
as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!