One of the hottest pop culture phenomenons right now is a game called "Fortnite," attracting rap stars, top Twitch streamers and gamers alike.

The game, made by Epic Games, is surging in popularity. Google search volume interest for "Fortnite" exceeded "Minecraft" and bitcoin in recent weeks.

Source: Google Trends

At one point last month, 3.4 million people were playing the game at same time, likely making it "the biggest PC/console game in the world," Epic Games said. The company revealed in January the game has been played by more than 45 million people worldwide.

"Fortnite" is also consistently on top of the "most-played" list for Microsoft's Xbox One console and the most popular game on Twitch.

Epic Games launched the free-to-play "Battle Royale" mode for "Fortnite" on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Mac in September. Critics said the mode was a blatant knock-off of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" [PUBG], which was a big PC gaming success story last year.

"Battle Royale" type games have 100 online players violently battle to the death until only one player survives.

"Fortnite" has surpassed PUBG due to its free-to-play no upfront cost business model, lower hardware requirements, less cheating problems and a more casual cartoon look that appeals to younger gamers.

Source: Microsoft



Top streamers such a Ninja, Shroud and Dr. DisRespect have flocked to playing the game.

Twitch is a live streaming video platform primarily used to stream video game play. It was acquired by Amazon for $970 million in 2014. Many streamers make a full-time living playing games from paid channel subscriptions and viewer donations.

Ninja confirmed to a Forbes contributor he is on pace to make more than $500,000 a month streaming "Fortnite" on the platform.



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Rapper Drake joined Ninja to play the game Wednesday night, breaking the Twitch record for most concurrent viewers in a non-tournament stream with 630,000 people watching at peak, according to The Verge.