Fortnite on Nintendo Switch cracks 2 million downloads in 24 hours

A lot of people want to play Fortnite on the Switch.

Jackson Ryan Former Science Editor

Jackson Ryan was CNET's science editor, and a multiple award-winning one at that. Earlier, he'd been a scientist, but he realized he wasn't very happy sitting at a lab bench all day. Science writing, he realized, was the best job in the world -- it let him tell stories about space, the planet, climate change and the people working at the frontiers of human knowledge. He also owns a lot of ugly Christmas sweaters.

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Jackson Ryan

June 13, 2018 11:23 p.m. PT

If it isn't already clear, let's make it so: Fortnite is going to take over the world.

I mean, seriously.

Though Epic Games' behemoth somewhat unexpectedly launched on the Switch directly after Nintendo's E3 conference, users still raced out to download the battle royale extravaganza, reports Polygon Wednesday.

That shouldn't come as any surprise, of course, with the game dominating basically every platform it has found itself on over the last six months.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Polygon that over 2 million users had downloaded Fortnite in less than 24 hours. Overall, Fortnite has begun to rack up a huge user base, with a tidy 125 million users registering for the game to date. Over 40 million log in and play once a month.

Though some Switch users feel a little mixed about the lack of cross-play support with the PS4, the port is an entirely serviceable addition to the Fortnite's range of platforms, with CNET's Jason Parker calling it "the best mobile version of Fortnite by default." Hard to disagree with that.

The perpetually ready-bodied Fils-Aime also added the rapidfire downloads by Switch users "speaks to the power of the franchise, the engagement of our players and the resonance of being able to play it anytime, anywhere."

This is Fortnite's world now. We're just living in it.