Netflix is going against Fortnite, not HBO
In the year 2013, a Netflix exec announced that the company’s ambition was to “become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” Netflix was gunning for the throne of the king of premium television. But now it seems the company has identified an even bigger rival. Netflix is going against Fortnite, the massively popular video game.
The online shooting battle royale game takes up an enormous amount of consumers’ screen time, Netflix said that this fact alone makes it a formidable foe in the global war for Internet users’ attention.
Netflix said in a shareholder letter on Thursday, “We earn consumer screen time, both mobile and television, away from a very broad set of competitors.” “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO . . . There are thousands of competitors in this highly fragmented market vying to entertain consumers.”
The company specifically called out the game. Netflix is going after Fortnite and this stands as a testament to the success of the game. This reflects the game’s ever-growing popularity. It boasts over 200 million registered users, and some 80 million log in to play each month, according to publisher Epic Games. Last year, Fortnite soared to fresh heights. It helped Epic earn a reported $3 billion in profit.
Netflix’s chief near-term threat remains other major TV content companies. Firms such as Disney are pulling their content off Netflix. This comes ahead of launching their own exclusive streaming video apps. Netflix will face pressure to defend its subscriber base. That is the only way the company makes money. In its earnings report Thursday, Netflix said it added modestly to its audience, drawing in 1.5 million users in the United States and 7.3 million internationally.
Netflix is going after Fortnite. This is a sign of respect for the game and goes to show just how much Netflix has grown in recent years.
