Fortnite's live event "The Device" shattered all sorts of records this week as more than 20 million people tuned in to watch it live.
Earlier this week, Epic staged what might have been Fortnite's most impressive and intriguing live event to date. "The Device" went live on Monday afternoon and the island was changed in a major way. Midas's device, which he has been tweaking for an entire season, finally activated and turned the game's storm into a terrifying wall of water.
While that was the main attraction, the transportation of the players who managed to get a front-row seat for the event has also got people asking questions. Players were mysteriously teleported to an office three times. There were top-secret documents on the desk, and during the third brief visit, a well-dressed Jonesy questioned how they could be there and if they could hear him.
The dust has far from settled following the event as Season 3 kicks off today. As for the interest The Device generated, suffice to say any reports that Fortnite is losing traction in 2020 are unfounded. As those who tried and failed to log in during the build to The Device will know, it had a capacity that was filled very quickly.
Turns out that capacity was a cool 12 million players. Epic enforced the cap to ensure stability during the event. As for those who missed out, it seems as if many of them resorted to watching the action unfold on YouTube and Twitch. It's estimated that an additional 8.4 million people watched live streams via the two sites. 2.3 million people were watching on Twitch, smashing the previous record set by League of Legends' 2019 World Championships (1.7 million).
As for Fortnite's in-game viewer record, The Device was a long way off breaking that thanks to the self-imposed cap. 27.7 million people logged in to watch the first Travis Scott concert earlier this year, which still blows our minds in the best possible way. That event didn't have a cap though, of course, and took place across a much longer period of time. Nevertheless, it seems as if people are very interested in what Season 3 has to offer.
Source: Twitter