Students throughout Susky can not stop playing Fortnite Battle Royale.

Fortnite, developed by Epic Games, puts players up against 99 others in a Hunger Games style competition.

Players land on the map, scavenge for weapons and materials and battle it out, avoiding the lethal electric storm, until the final player or team stands.

Modes in Fortnite consist of solos, duos, squads (four player team), and various limited time arcade style modes.

Senior Colin Kernan thinks he knows why the game is so popular.

“You have the ability to play with your friends while working as a team,” said Kernan. “Also, it’s so hard to win a game which keeps players coming back for more.”

While many games that gain quick popularity die off after a few months, many players, including senior Alec Kramer, believe Fortnite can be relevant for a long time.

“[Epic] consistently adds new content each week, and they improve the game with each update,” said Kramer. “This leaves players satisfied with the direction that the game is going.”

However, no game is perfect, and the community has not been afraid to voice its opinion.

Kramer is tired of the Fortnite’s lackluster servers.

“Fortnite still has many bugs and glitches that interfere with gameplay,” said Kramer. The servers are always full, so there’s either lag, or you have to wait in a queue. They can fix this by getting more servers.”

Senior Josh Smiley thinks Epic should focus on maps.

“Right now Fortnite only has one map,” said Smiley. “If [Epic] really wants to take this game to the next level, they should add a few more maps to the game. I think a snow filled map or a city map would be very interesting.”

Not only has Fortnite become prominent at Susky, but it is rapidly growing on a global scale.

One outlet that is making this possible is the game streaming site, Twitch.

Twitch star Tyler Blevins, better known as Ninja, has compiled over five million followers by streaming video games.

Blevins’ Fortnite stream with rappers Drake and Travis Scott, and football player JuJu Smith-Schuster had over 600,000 viewers, which broke a previous Twitch record.

Smiley believes this stream was a huge deal.

“This stream was very important because it brought together many different communities,” said Smiley. “Fans of rap, football, and Fortnite were all brought together to enjoy one of the most popular games in the world.”

Fortnite has taken over the gaming community, and if you’re looking for a game that mixes strategy, teamwork, and skill then it is the game for you.