What’s the secret to Fortnite’s success? There are tons of factors we could pick, like the game’s building, the collabs, or its Battle Pass system, but the freshness of the title is often the most exciting. There’s always something new in Fortnite. A big part of that is Fortnite’s seasonal pacing.
The game doesn’t sit still for very long. Battle Royale moves from season to season pretty quickly. If a particular meta or theme isn’t to your liking, you’re never too far away from something different. Then there’s the Chapter resets, which now introduce new maps and huge changes to everything, coming once a year. It’s a system which has allowed Fortnite to feel like a new game every few months, instead of being tied to one style of play.
Across all Fortnite seasons, the seasonal pacing has helped to keep players engaged. This is why it all works:
Fortnite’s Seasonal Pacing
Fortnite first released as a Battle Royale back in 2017. To begin with, it didn’t have seasons. It was just a side mode to a different game! Once it got popular though, developers began to push out content updates as quickly as possible. Sometimes that was just a new weapon, but a new system massively helped keep the game in everyone’s minds.
Once seasons became a concept with a defined theme, Battle Pass, new features and only a couple of months in focus with updates spaced in, and then we move on, everything changed.
The seasonal pacing meant the game always stayed fresh. As we’ve moved further into the seasons, we even added new Chapters. A big refresh with a new map. Seasons have a big part of how Fortnite has held players’ interest.
Why do Fortnite Seasons work so well as a concept?
Fortnite’s seasonal pacing might be one of the secrets behind its success. There are two major reasons behind this.
The first, is the content. Free-to-play live service games need new content to hold the player's attention. They get bored easily. The seasonal system means every few months Fortnite essentially relaunches. We get enough new content to make the game feel completely fresh. On top of that, gameplay changes quite a lot. There’s even a specified theme. These are big events, the seasonal launches. So, the game gets the attention of a brand-new launch every few months.
The Fortnite seasonal pacing has another factor though, FOMO.
Battle Passes in Fortnite has been one of the innovations that’s really captured player’s attention. Content like skins and cosmetics are included each season, but they have an expiry date. If you miss it, you’ll miss you. Same for playing a specific type of the game. If you missed the season full of Marvel weapons, that experience won’t come back. It leaves players desperate to get their time in before the content leaves.
When it doesn’t work…
Fortnite’s seasonal pacing has helped to keep it on top of player’s minds. A game people return to all the time. However, there’s some problems with the system too.
The biggest is the other side of that FOMO. Players might love one version of the game but once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. It can mean players end up missing how the game used to be, even to the point of resenting the current version of the game. This is less of a problem now that Fortnite has OG, but there’s lots of content that we’re still locked out of forever.
The seasonal pacing in Fortnite has also meant that new weapons, mechanics, and novelties need to be added to the game constantly. Sometimes we get genius seasons that are great fun to play. But other times it’s a mechanic we probably could have done without. It seems the seasonal grind means there always needs to be something new, which can occasionally lead the game to embrace mechanics most players would rather avoid.
While there have been some mis-steps, the Fortnite seasonal pacing means they never stick around too long. This scheduling has helped to keep Fortnite fresh and relevant, even as it’s becoming an eight-year-old game.
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