Does having a winning Fortnite roster create social media growth in 2021?
A look at five of the fastest-growing esports organisations on social media and what binds them: Fortnite
Five of the organisations whose primary or most successful esport is Fortnite are growing faster on social media than almost every team in any other game, yet a huge majority of that growth has come since 2021 began.
As an entity, Guild Esports seem to be unique in esports. Like the other four mentioned, they’ve created their flagship roster in a notoriously fickle and hard-to-monetise esport.
We’ve seen giants like TSM and NRG find it hard to provide high engagement rates after accelerated Fortnite growth. We’ve seen the likes of Team Atlantis and E11 Gaming fail to find sustainability after dedication to Fortnite.
But, with well-engaged teams in VALORANT & Rocket League, and entry into the absurdly large UK Minecraft content creation scene, Guild seem to have already diversified with Fortnite as its early springboard.
Having entered the space with an IPO and David Beckham as a major backer, Guild wasn’t going to fail early. But we’ve seen footballer-backed organisations fall into the flames before, so choosing a solid base for growth was pivotal.
They started the year with 16 thousand Twitter followers. Their players finished first, second and eighth during the FNCS Chapter 2 Season 5 Final. Nearing the end of June, they now have 94 thousand.
Their talent and esport choices during this growth period have seemingly been the best fit for diversification, their communications team has ostensibly capitalised well on a clear brand mission rather than falling back to reliance upon players, and their sales team has clearly already used this growth for strong business development.
Wave Esports are unwaveringly European. But what always comes with being a European esports organisation is a non-homogenous demographic in a continent full of tens of languages and hundreds of cultures. Coming out of a chapter of lockdown, though, they’re providing a sense of unity: bootcamps, or should it be said, wavecamps.
Fortnite, with its lack of LAN tournaments, has always leant towards bootcamps as a replacement for that. It’s Wave who have recognised that the LAN equivalent in Fortnite isn’t owned by a game developer or event organiser, it’s controlled by…Wave.
In North America, ENDL8SS and XTRA Gaming, leveled up in January 2021.
The former rebranded from vsBANDITS to become the symbol for the management group’s lifestyle in January, harking back to a more anarchic and simpler time when FaZe Clan and SoaR acted as central icons to a lifestyle zeitgeist. On 31st May, their trio walked away as winners of FNCS Chapter 2 Season 6. With a centralised home, the newly crowned champions gave a new communion a shrine in which to amass.
The latter was bought into by the esports media holding company, Subnation in January. Perhaps foreshadowing possible success avenues for ENDL8SS, XTRA Gaming is a good news story for any creative entrepreneurs who think esports has become too corporate and expensive to enter. Creating a strong foundation for growth will steer the course of action towards serendipity, whether through angel investors or, after six months, a very happy holding company.
Both Guild and Wave have entered VALORANT in a pretty substantial way, whilst ENDL8SS and XTRA Gaming have established their intent to become ubiquitous beyond even gaming. It’s doubtful any of these teams keep up 200% growth for H2 2021, let alone exceeding 400%. But one thing is certain: Fortnite still and always gives momentum for growth on social media.
