How Did Fortnite Get Its Name?

Fornite, the battle royale phenomenon from Epic Games, has taken the gaming industry by storm since its release in July 2017. The game continues to rake in money and players. This ongoing stint in the spotlight has left some fans wondering about Fortnite's origins, including how it got its unusual name.

While Epic has not shared details about their naming process, a look at Fortnite's core features provides a few clues about their possible motivations. First, Fortnite appears to be a play on the word "fortnight" which means "a period of two weeks." Save the World, Epic's original concept for the game, centers on surviving in a post-apocalyptic world for 14 days.

Fortnite seems to have a second meaning, also derived from the Save the World. In this mode, you band together with other players in a large multiplier environment to complete objectives, collect resources, and build bases. This preparation helps you withstand the horde of zombies that spawn when night falls, which you must fight to either ensure your survival or protect an important device. Thus, in Save the World, you must build forts to survive two weeks of nighttime attacks.

The name Fortnite may also reference real-world knights, figures who served as elite fighters, bodyguards, or mercenaries in service to their sworn lord. The nobility rewarded their knights with land-holdings and they typically acted as protectors of a specific area and would join their masters on military campaigns. As you're fighting for humanity's survival in Save the World, you are, in essence, the world's protectors. Fortnite also includes knight characters/skins, such as the Royale Knight, Black Knight, Red Knight, and Ultima Knight.

So, there you have it. Knights building forts to fight monsters at night over a two-week period. Or maybe Epic Games just thought the name sounded catchy.