Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or just refuse to believe Fortnite exists, as I did for a while before I joined the craze) – Fortnite is back with an all new Pirate themed adventure for Season 8.  How does this relate to E-Commerce Marketing?  I’m glad you asked…

As an ultimate thank you for playing the game, Fortnite gifted a free Season 8 Battle Pass to its loyal fan base who completed certain challenges during the end of Season 7.  Why would Epic Games do this and was it a wise decision?

“Superdata reports that Fortnite, after experiencing record revenue in December, saw a sharp drop of 48% in revenue in January. And before you ask, no, that’s not when Apex Legends came out, as that wasn’t until early February, so that new rival has nothing to do with it.”  (Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2019/02/25/fortnite-revenue-reportedly-drops-by-nearly-50-in-one-month/#1fecf07a600b)

While the article above makes a fair point, it fails to consider possible reasons for the decrease in revenue, such as seasonality.

Fortnite’s fan base consists of males and females aged 10 – 40, globally.  December is obviously a great month for revenue and we can almost expect it to drop in January as a result of seasonality.  February and March tend to be low in revenue as well, with folks grinding away at school or work.  This may be why February & March are great periods for marketing, which can potentially increase revenue for current and future periods.

Let’s get back to our question – Why would Fortnite gift a free battle pass to millions of players already on the platform, sacrificing vast amounts in potential revenue?  To give back, say thanks, & show appreciation for the Fortnite community.  [Also, as a marketing tactic.]

Enhancing the customer experience is quintessential when building a marketing plan.  After all, these are your customers, so why not give them the royal treatment?  The Walt Disney company does this best, but I’ll save that for another post.

How much money have you spent on Fortnite already? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

P.S. – If you enjoy watching Fortnite (or other video gameplay) check out some of my gaming channels below!

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwj7Xmyo8RnxSh0JlqYWYtg
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ibo0pUrNoseB0op/