A recent report from the research firm Newzoo suggests that while the battle royale genre may be facing a contraction, Fortnite continues to dominate. According to the Newzoo PC & Console Gaming Report 2025, the battle royale genre has experienced a decline in playtime, dropping from 19% in 2021 to 12% in 2024. This data was gathered from Newzoo's Game Performance Monitor, which tracks 37 markets excluding China and India, across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. Despite this downturn, the combined playtime of shooter and battle royale games remains steady at around 40%, with shooter games seeing an increase in playtime as battle royale games decline.
Within the battle royale genre itself, Fortnite has significantly increased its market share, rising from 43% in 2021 to a commanding 77% in 2024. This indicates that while the genre as a whole is shrinking, Fortnite is capturing a larger portion of the remaining playtime, outperforming competitors like Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legends.
In addition to the shifts in the battle royale genre, role-playing games (RPGs) have seen substantial growth, increasing from a 9% share of playtime in 2021 to 13% in 2024. Newzoo highlighted that 18% of RPG playtime in 2024 was dedicated to major releases from 2023, including standout titles such as Baldur's Gate 3, Diablo IV, Honkai: Star Rail, Hogwarts Legacy, and Starfield.
Newzoo's report underscores the competitive nature of the gaming industry, where attention and playtime are hard-fought. While some games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends continue to thrive, others are losing ground. Meanwhile, genres like shooters and RPGs are gaining more traction, with successes like Marvel Rivals and Baldur's Gate 3 highlighting the strength of these categories.
Fortnite's resilience can be attributed to its continuous updates, evolving content, and the integration of various gaming experiences and genres within its platform. As gaming trends evolve with changing audience interests, it will be interesting to observe how Fortnite and other leading titles adapt to maintain their dominance in the ever-shifting landscape of video games.
