'Fortnite' Creator Sees Epic Games Becoming as Big as Facebook, Google

The company behind 'Fortnite' wants to become the next Facebook or Google, said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. The idea isn't much of a stretch. From a report: While 'Fortnite' began life as a relatively mundane game it continues to evolve, first by adding a battle royale mode, and then by leaning on the game's massive install base to turn the title into something more akin to a social platform that can host concerts, tell stories, and inspire creativity. Sweeney points to the game's popularity as a 'mass-market streaming phenomenon,' the moment when 'Fortnite' player teamed up with musician Drake in-game, and when the game played host to about 10 million people in a live, in-game Marshmello concert. 'We feel the game industry is changing in some major ways,' he said. ''Fortnite' is a harbinger of things to come. It's a massive number of people all playing together, interacting together, not just playing but socializing.'

'In many ways 'Fortnite' is like a social network. People are just in the game with strangers, they're playing with friends and using 'Fortnite' as a foundation to communicate.' Flush with a relatively recent $1.25 billion investment from a half-dozen investment firms and the steady flow of cash from both 'Fortnite' and Epic Game's Unreal game engine, Sweeney has big plans for the company.

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