Fortnite is one of the biggest games on the planet right now, but ‘game’ has never quite seemed like the right way to describe it. This isn’t a cheap “Fortnite isn’t for real gamerz” dunk, I just mean that it seems to have grown into something the phrase ‘video game’ can no longer contain. Fortnite feels less like it's a toy and more like it’s the box you keep the toys inside of, or perhaps the plastic said toys are made out of. It has evolved beyond being a popular battle royale with some viral dances, crawling out of the water and gasping for breath as its scaly body sprouts legs and goes forth. It’s a phenomenon - but how long before Fortnite becomes too big for Fortnite itself?

Fortnite has spent the last few months in a legal tussle with Apple over the percentage the latter takes from in-game purchases - as well as other, more complex issues it’s not worth diving into here - but even this has been embroiled in Fortnite’s status as something beyond a video game. Fortnite has leaned into the drama, appropriating Apple’s famous 1984 advert to criticise what it sees as the company’s anti-consumer stance, as well as sending #FreeFortnite gear to notable influencers. This is not just a court case, it’s a chance for you to show everyone everywhere that you’re on Team Fortnite, whatever that means.

Related: Forget Rick And Morty, Fortnite Invasion Finally Puts A Black Lead In The Spotlight

There are plenty of ways Fortnite has tried to lure people over to its team too - especially impressionable children. Fortnite always has a new set of characters joining the roster; occasionally these are original characters, but most of the time they’re popular heroes and villains from pop culture. Rick Sanchez just joined the game ahead of Rick & Morty season five, while Loki arrived even more recently to coincide with his Disney+ show. He’s one of several Marvel characters in the game, while many DC icons, Star Wars characters, and everyone from Ellen Ripley to Chun-Li to Lara Croft to Harry Kane are in Tomato Town too. It’s like a Happy Meal toy; there’s always a new one to find, and even if this one toy doesn’t do it for you, at least the fries are still good, yeah?

It’s part of a long and winding road for Fortnite. It’s not just that it has a lot of crossover characters, it’s in the way Fortnite has built itself into a staging ground. As well as all these characters who act as toys to Fortnite’s toy box, Fortnite also brings in special events that are part movie, part commercial, and part Ronald McDonald dancing outside the restaurant to make sure the kiddywinks are entertained even if they don’t like this week’s Happy Meal toys. Things like the Star Wars sneak preview or the Travis Scott concert - these don’t happen in video games, but they regularly happen in Fortnite, so what does that make Fortnite?

It's not only a question of popularity. Many games are popular, selling millions of copies and being fiercely debated across the internet. It's not even that Fortnite makes so much money - FIFA 21 has a huge turnover thanks to Ultimate Team, but it is very much still 'just a video game' in a way Fortnite is not. Fortnite is closest to Minecraft, and it has gone through similar cycles. Both grew in popularity and reached the contrarian tipping point, where they became the game to hate if you were a 'real' gamer. Fortnite's emergence in some ways shifted Minecraft away from this, as Fortnite was the new 'game for kids' and it became 'safe' to enjoy Minecraft again.

Though both games are very different in terms of how they play, both games are a toy box. The only difference is Fortnite is full of expensive action figures and Minecraft is full of Lego. Fortnite surely needs to look at Minecraft’s trajectory if it wants to continue to evolve.

fortnite thanos
via Epic

I’ve written before about how Fortnite, with its colourful graphics, off-the-wall humour, and incredible cast of characters would be my perfect video game were it not for the fact it’s Fortnite. Again, not a dunk, but battle royale shooters just aren’t for me, and with the huge pool of characters and locations to draw from, it has always seemed like a shame that Fortnite has Harley Quinn, Iron Man, Kratos, and John Wick together in a video game, and all it does is make them shoot each other, like a kid smashing two plastic toys together in the dirt. However, it feels like Fortnite doesn’t necessarily need to be Fortnite any longer. At least, it doesn’t need to be just Fortnite.

Minecraft has spun off into Minecraft: Story Mode and Minecraft Dungeons, and Fortnite is big enough (and plasticky enough) to try its hand at other things while still maintaining huge popularity for the base game. It's surely only a matter of time before Fortnite evolves again, and this time instead of evolving internally, it may evolve in external ways and branch out into something new entirely. The events and narratives are getting more and more complex, especially with the Marvel/Galactus event, but how long can the simple confines of the battle royale genre hold all of this in place? It can't just keep adding new Happy Meal toys forever, right?

Next: Call Of Duty Warzone’s Attempt To Become Fortnite Will End In Failure