A new game is starting to build itself an empire.

‘Fortnite’ has become one of the most popular games on both consoles and phones. Many students and some teachers have caught ‘Fortnite’ fever over the battle royale sensation.

The game was created by Epic Games and People Can Fly creators of games such as the third-person shooter “Gears of War” and the first person shooter “Bulletstorm.” The game released in early paid access on July 25, 2017 and became a cult hit on consoles.

In September, Epic implemented the 100 person Battle Royale mode, and since then, “Fortnite” has only grown from there with a mobile release expanding the player base.

“All my friends started playing it, and I got into it too,” freshman Elizabeth Simmons said. “It’s really fun to play in my free time.”

“It’s a stress reliever during the day,” junior Cassidy Bell said. “My boyfriend played it and then I started playing it.”

Players begin the game on the Battle Bus and proceed to parachute out onto the battleground, an expansive island. Players land and are only equipped with a pickaxe and must collect weapons and gear to survive the other 99 players in the game.

The game has become accessible to everyone, even non-gamers and veteran gamers.

“It’s fun and easy to play,” freshman Carley Wilson said. “As someone who doesn’t play video games, it is really fun and entertaining.”

“I think it has become so big because it is free to play and accessible to many people,” self-proclaimed pathetic “Fortnite” player Dr. Alex Hollis said. “I’m so spectacularly bad at ‘Fortnite’ I could kill myself with a medkit.”

Fortnite is always evolving and expanding with updates to the game coming pretty much every week to make it feel fresh and new for its users. While rivals are popping up including “Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds,” the game is still changing and building into its own.

Time to jump on the Battle Bus and prepare for a Battle Royale.