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SuperData defends Fortnite figures following Epic criticisms

SuperData defends Fortnite figures following Epic criticisms

Research firm SuperData has stood by the methods it used to claim that Fortnite spending had reached a two-year low.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the company has said it has "a proven methodology and validation process" for gathering its data. In its January 2020 monthly global digital spending report, the firm said that spending in Fortnite had been steadily declining and hit their lowest level since November 2017.

In a statement, also to GamesIndustry.biz, Epic had questioned the methods that SuperData uses, apparently not in reference to the January 2020 but also... the timing says it is entirely about that report.

"SuperData does not and has not ever had access to Epic's Fortnite revenue data, and SuperData's reports do not accurately reflect Fortnite's performance," Epic said.

"We are disappointed that SuperData has repeatedly published wildly inaccurate reports about Fortnite based on what we believe is questionable methodology.

"While we do not and have not publicly shared revenue numbers for Fortnite, we will say that SuperData's reports do not align with reality."

While we don't know whether SuperData's stats are entirely correct, it has been some time since Epic gave an update as to how many people were playing Fortnite. The last milestone announcement was at the end of 2018, when Epic revealed the free-to-play battle royale title had 250m users.

Not that that means that the game has seen a dip in users or spending, but surely if those metrics were on the rise you'd want to shout about them.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.