Fortnite was the most-played game on Nintendo Switch in 2018 despite the free download only being available on the platform for part of the year.

Fortnite went about dominating the video game world in 2018. At the start of the year, it was a free-to-download, battle royale-style game that was gaining traction. By the end of it, Fortnite was sitting atop the gaming world in so many ways. Its developers made $3 billion in profit and the game is now available, still for free, across every platform you could possibly want.

The platforms Fortnite added to its arsenal in 2018 were iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Android. When it comes to the Switch, Fortnite has performed better than anyone would have been expecting. The Nintendo Switch news app, it revealed this week that in Europe, Fortnite was the most played game on the Switch in 2018. That's impressive for a number of reasons.

RELATED: CANDY CRUSH MADE MORE MONEY THAN FORTNITE MOBILE AND POKEMON GO COMBINED IN 2018

via eurogamer.net

Most notably, of course, is Nintendo's onus on its own games. Unsurprisingly, the other four games that make up the top five are all Nintendo titles. Not the number one spot, though. That belongs to Fortnite. What will also be a body blow to the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey is that Fortnite wasn't even available on the Switch for a large chunk of 2018.

Fortnite is not the only game that impressed in that arena. Even though Pokemon Let's Go was not released until November, both the Pikachu and Eevee versions made the top ten. Even Super Smash Bros Ultimate snuck into the top 20 despite only being available for the final few weeks of the year. Nintendo has not released the exact numbers, so there's currently no way of knowing how far ahead of its closest competitors Fortnite was.

When it comes to 2019, Fortnite shows no signs of slowing down. One of the last things it did in 2018 was help break down a big barrier in gaming. Fortnite became the first game to have cross-platform play between PlayStation and Xbox. Epic has promised to let other developers use its software so that it can do the same in 2019, and don't plan on charging them for the privilege. When you make $3 billion in 12 months, you can probably afford to give out a few things for free.

NEXT: LEAK SUGGESTS SNES TITLES WILL SOON BE COMING TO NINTENDO SWITCH