Fortnite

Fortnite is the cultural phenomenon developed by Epic Games that helped define the modern Battle Royale genre. Set on a vibrant, constantly evolving island, the core premise involves 100 players skydiving from a "Battle Bus" to scavenge for weapons and resources, fighting to be the last one standing as a storm shrinks the playable area. While it features original lore and characters like Jonesy and Peely, the game has evolved into a massive metaverse, hosting concerts and integrating skins from Marvel, Star Wars, and hundreds of other intellectual properties.

The game distinguishes itself with a unique construction mechanic, allowing players to build walls, ramps, and forts on the fly to defend against fire or traverse the map. For players who prefer pure gunplay, the permanent "Zero Build" mode has revitalized the player base by removing these mechanics. Fortnite maintains massive popularity due to its "Games as a Service" model, featuring distinct seasonal updates, a highly active competitive esports scene (FNCS), and cross-platform play that unites PC, console, and mobile gamers.

From a benchmarking perspective, Fortnite is an excellent test of scalability as it runs on Unreal Engine 5. It is highly optimized to run on lower-end hardware using "Performance Mode," which strips back visual fidelity to maximize framerates—a necessity for competitive play where high refresh rates are prioritized. However, at maximum settings with UE5 features enabled (such as Nanite virtualized geometry and Lumen global illumination), the game becomes significantly demanding on the GPU, requiring modern hardware to maintain smooth performance. Competitive end-games with many players in a small circle are also known to be CPU-intensive.