Snapchat Responds to Questions About 'Fortnite' and 'PUBG'
No, really, they should worry.
Snapchat had a lot to answer for in Tuesday’s quarterly earnings call. From the latest about the crashes to the Android app to that redesign everyone is talking about, there were plenty plenty of questions for company executives about its future. But there was one investment analyst’s question about competition from two incredibly popular video games that stuck out.
Snap executives were asked about the competitive pressure they feel from mobile games like Fortnite and PUBG. Here was the question, asked amid queries about ad revenue, daily active users, design: “And then just quickly, do you think you’ll see any impact in users from competitive entertainment like Fortnite and PUBG? Thanks.” Imran Khan, Snapchat’s chief strategy officer, has a little experience with the games and he fielded the question this way:
“My son, who is eight years old, loves that game [Fortnite], I played it with him over the weekend,” Khan said during the call. “But I think it’s hard for me to sit here and say how that is impacting time on our platform at this point.”
'Fortnite' sales during first half of April.
The question might’ve seemed like an awkward one to ask a social media app company, but not in the competitive world of mobile apps. In the first half of April, Fortnite Mobile was not only the highest-grossing game for iOS devices, it was one of the top overall apps in spending, only coming behind Netflix. In March, PUBG reached second place on top free iPhone apps list, right behind Fortnite. Both games are putting pressure on the major mobile app developers as they continue to pull in users from spending time on other applications.
See also: Snapchat Redesign Will See a Reversal as Friends Come First Again
When Snapchat released its quarterly earnings Tuesday and showed how poorly the company performed, its stock price fell by 15 percent. Meanwhile, Fortnite’s fourth season is finally here and a huge meteor is drawing in huge numbers. A recent report found that a third of all PC gamers are playing Fortnite.
In order to get back on track, Evan Speigel, Snapchat’s co-founder and CEO, announced Tuesday the company would revamp the app’s design. It was last November when the social media platform changed its user interface, which many users hated.
