Fortnite's Battle Royale mode off to a strong start

If you've been keeping your ear close to the ground lately, you'll know that there has been a bit of a fallout between the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developers at Bluehole Studio and Epic games, after the latter announced a Battle Royale mode for its game Fortnite.

Bluehole's Chang Han Kim suggested that the company would "contemplate further action" after Epic (who, and this is key, make the game engine with which PUBG is being developed) launched Fortnite's new mode without discussing it with them first, the bone of contention being the existing relationship between them and the similarities with regards to the execution of the concept.

Regardless of the fallout between the two companies, the launch of the free-to-play mode in Fortnite has proved a huge success, with a staggering 1 million players signing up for duty on day one. The news came via Twitter, where they announced the milestone achievement, writing:

"Over 1 million players have partied on the Battle Bus during the first day of Battle Royale! Thank you and party on!"

Fortnite is in paid early access, but the Battle Royale mode is a free-to-play offering included in the same client. Both the base game and the new mode are available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.