Epic Games has been furthering Fortnite battle royale lately, releasing the Chapter 2, Season 2 battle pass recently after a long wait. Players have been eagerly awaiting the new season given how stale the previous season, known as the longest in battle royale history, became.

Epic Games Disputes SuperData Fortnite Claims

While the stale nature of the previous season could have resulted in some lowered financial results for Epic Games and Fortnite, it seems that we might not know the truth at this time. Nielsen’s market intelligence firm SuperData supposedly released revenue data to the community recently. However, that data might not have been true.

Epic Games wrote a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, revealing that the battle royale developer is calling out SuperData for the recent financial results it released. According to a representative from Epic Games, the reports from the intelligence firm are not only wrong but “wildly inaccurate.”

“SuperData does not and has not ever had access to Epic’s Fortnite revenue data, and SuperData’s reports do not accurately reflect Fortnite’s performance,” said an Epic Games representative. “We are disappointed that SuperData has repeatedly published wildly inaccurate reports about Fortnite based on what we believe is questionable methodology.”

The representative continued, “While we do not and have not publicly shared revenue numbers for Fortnite, we will say that SuperData’s reports do not align with reality. Oddly enough, these statements were not made regarding any one specific report from SuperData.”

SuperData Doubles Down on Fortnite Report

While it might seem like the story could end there, the market intelligence company has already released its statement in contrast to what Epic Games is saying at this time. It disputes the claims from the developer, noting that its reports are accurate after all.

The company states that it has “a proven methodology and validation process” and that it still stands behind the previously released financial results regarding Fortnite. Though Epic Games didn’t exactly call out any specific report from the firm, there is a recent one posted.

The most recent results were up through January 2020. It covers the video game industry in the first month of the new year and decade in comparison to the previous year of 2019. In comparison to last year, January 2020 was reportedly down 42% in terms of console spending, in large part due to the lowered Fortnite revenue.

That specific report from the company was solely about console spending when it came to the free-to-play games out there like Fortnite. The premium games that players must purchase upfront didn’t fare too much better, dropping around 19% in the same period.

Fortnite Report Claims Lowest Point for the Game

While other games and sectors like Dragon Ball Z Kakarot and mobile games in general performed well, it seems that battle royale games didn’t do as great as before overall. According to the reports for January 2020, Fortnite continued to decline to hit its lowest level since November 2017.

Apex Legends increased its active console users for January 2020 by 12%. However, it generated less revenue than the previous month of December with a somewhat successful limited-time holiday event.

PUBG was the main battle royale game to benefit from last month’s revenue, releasing Season 6 finally. That long-awaited release raised in-game spending to 512% on PC. This was an insane achievement after several months of low spending on additional content.

To hear that Fortnite is reportedly doing the “worst” it has done since November 2017 is a surprising and unfortunate claim. As such, it is no surprise that Epic Games would want to refute that possibly wrong claim with its statement.

Unfortunately, Epic Games has yet to release an official statement regarding how well Fortnite battle royale did during January 2020 or previous months in general, so there is no way to know who is right or wrong in this situation currently.

What We Do Know About the Fortnite Community

The Fortnite community was going through a difficult time during that month overall. Morale was rather low for the players and content creators as it was the final full month for the first season of Chapter 2.

Though the release of Chapter 2, Season 1 was one of the most exciting events for the entire game’s history, it eventually drowned out as the longest season in battle royale history. Players grew tired of the same old content and not much else to do in the game.

The metagame reached its stalest point ever, frustrating some for the lack of mobility options. Players only had a motorboat or ziplines to move around the island in Chapter 2, Season 1 of battle royale.

If you weren’t on water, there weren’t any great ways to get around, unlike in previous seasons. While this seems bad for the first season, it had benefits as well. For example, it made the Season 2 wait somewhat worth it with Winterfest, Star Wars and Birds of Prey events.

Season 2 is one of the most positively received seasons in the history of the game, just like at the start of Chapter 2. Players appreciate all the new content, mobility changes, customization options and new map additions.

It remains to be seen how the community will view Season 2 and how Fortnite revenue will be. For now, it is an exciting time again for players to enjoy the popular free-to-play battle royale game.