Here are all the video games I played in 2024.

Console (new games):

• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (XSX)
  • 27/50 Achievements - 54% complete
• Helldivers II (PS5)
  • 15/39 Trophies - 38% complete
• Dead Island 2 (XSX)
  • SoLA DLC
  • 57/57 Achievements - 100% complete
• Still Wakes the Deep (XSX)
  • 20/37 Achievements - 54% complete
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 - Heart of Chornobyl (XSX)
  • 26/58 Achievements - 45% complete

Console (continued games):

• Fortnite (XSX)
• Back 4 Blood (XSX)
• Fallout 76 (XSX)
• Fallout 4 (XSX)
• MultiVersus (XSX)
• Mirror’s Edge (XSX)
  • via Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility

Console (purchased and returned):

• None

Mobile (iOS):

• None

Game of the Year (console): Fortnite

Game of the Year (mobile): N/A

So, about my choice for Game of the Year…

If you look at the blog posts on games I’ve played, and you can read back 13 years here, I’ve averaged around 12+ AAA games a year. This year I’d classify the games as follows: 2 are full AAA releases, 1 is a AA release, 1 is a multiplayer-only live service game, and 1 is DLC.

A number of things changed my perspective on what games I invest my time in. In no particular order, as they relate to Fortnite, here goes:

I’ve been playing Fortnite for almost 3 years now? In late 2021, while on vacation, my nephew asked if I would start playing Fortnite with him so he could play in tournaments. It was a great way to connect with him during COVID and to find out what was happening with my sister’s family since they moved away in 2020. Mind you, this was before Fortnite released their Zero Build mode, so I had to quickly learn the mechanics of building that he had at least a 2 year head start on. I wasn’t terrible at it and hey, I was the first one of us to get a “20 bomb”, in builds no less.

It was different early on, where I was playing with more random groups, but I have found the Fortnite community to be the least toxic in online gaming. I checked in-game and I’ve blocked 7 people and those were all for using slurs in-game. This was all well before Fortnite’s voice and text chat reporting mechanism.

My online gaming friends group are all heavily invested in Fortnite as their main game. No matter when I boot up Fortnite, I usually have invites to party up with friends or friends are available for me to invite. It’s one of very few games where I’ve regularly played with the same group of friends. And it was only Fortnite where my friends group has remained committed for years now. On occasion, my nephew and I have also roped my brother-in-law in to play Fortnite with us.

I am also keen on the direction Fortnite is taking in that it’s a launcher to be able to play multiple types of games in the Fortnite “universe”. Battle Royale being the one mode I play, but there’s Rocket Racing, LEGO Fortnite, Fortnite Festival, the countless games available in Fortnite Creative, Fortnite Ballistic, etc. I’ve played some of each of the other modes, but Battle Royale is my “bread and butter”, so to speak. I enjoy the cooperative/teamwork aspect of that mode and use it to actively improve my personal communication skills.

I actively look forward to the daily Fortnite Item Shop rotation and I’m glad to see they have extended that capability to the web where I can check and purchase items from the shop out of the game itself. Recently I calculated how many Vbucks I’ve purchased in almost 3 years and it was just over $1500. My latest commitment was to subscribe to Fortnite Crew where for $11.99/month, I get 1000 Vbucks, the monthly Fortnite Crew pack, and access to all the battle passes across the various game modes.

Finally, I’m better at Fortnite than when I started playing the game. I do appreciate that sites like Fortnite Tracker are available, where I can get a detailed breakdown by season, mode, match type (solo, duos, trios, squads), of my Fortnite statistics. And when I say I’m better than when I started, I do mean objectively better. I’m currently in the Top 0.1% of players worldwide, for wins, in Fortnite. Also, in case you’re wondering, I have roughly 3x as many wins as my nephew.

I might get around to games from 2024 like “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” or DLCs like “Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree”, in the future. But if I’m being totally honest, a lot of games in 2024 just didn’t excite me the way Fortnite continues to.

I realize this just reads like a list of things that anyone might like about Fortnite. But in 2024, the realization and combination of these things just jelled for me how much I’m personally invested in Fortnite. Anyway, if you’ve read this far, I hope that puts some more perspective on my 2024 Game of the Year.