VG Update #16: After Months Of Silence, Epic Games' Fortnite Is More Than Alive And Well

Dec. 10, 2011. That's the day when Epic Games unveiled its first trailer for a completely new game that represented a surprising change in direction. From the video, you could conclude that "Fortnite" is a sandbox game with vibrant, cartoon-like visuals that seems heavily inspired by "Team Fortress 2" and "Minecraft." Compared to its previous work on the gory, so-called "bro shooter" franchise "Gears of War," this could be considered a drastic shift in tone for the developer. However, since the game's debut over two years ago, very little has been said about it, which has had people questioning whether or not Epic Games has canceled or abandoned it.

On April 8, the developer has crushed these rumors, making a roaring comeback with an in-depth cover story of "Fortnite" courtesy of Gameinformer.

This month's magazine has this beautiful artwork on the front and back covers. (Photo courtesy of Gameinformer)

It wasn't easy over those two, silent years for Epic Games because they experienced a massive transition in its employee infrastructure and financial backing. When it finished "Gears of War 3," the developer sought a new publisher besides Microsoft that would be a good fit to help it publish free-to-play games. After speaking with several publishers, Epic Games found Tencent: a Chinese Internet company - which is even bigger than Facebook - that specializes in social networking, multiplayer online games and more. In June 2012, it finally joined forces with Epic Games by making a $300 million dollar stake in the developer.

"It was the first time in Epic's 21-year history that we had taken an outside investment, and that ended up being a life-changing event for some really long-time members who were shareholders in Epic," founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said. "That gave everyone an opportunity to reevaluate what they wanted to do. Everyone was in a different situation."

This led to the departure of major employees like Cliff Bleszinski, Adrain Chmierlaz and Rod Fergusson all around the same time, which had many people thinking that something terribly upsetting must have happened inside the developer. This wasn't the case at all, according to Sweeney. It was a time of natural transition for several people, which made way for a host of new employees to join the ranks of Epic Games.

With these great changes came new inspiration and talent, which has subsequently brought in "a new era at Epic Games," and it starts with "Fortnite."

These characters represent two out of the four classes players will be able to choose from: the Commando and the Scavenger. (Photo courtesy of Gameinformer)

Described in a nutshell, Gameinformer editor Dan Ryckert sums it up perfectly in the reveal article on its website.

"[Fortnite] challenges you to explore the environment for resources and build fortresses while fending off waves of attackers at the same time," he said. "With an RPG-like progression system, Diablo-like looting, multiple campaigns of varying lengths, procedurally generated worlds, and the promise of player vs. player battles, Epic is offering plenty of replayability that it hopes will provide the game with a long lifecycle."

The game takes place in a land simply known as "the world" where four players must fight against a malevolent force called "the Storm." During the day, players must collect resources, create various weapons and equipment and build fortresses. During the night, all of this work pays off as monsters of all shapes and sizes assault the players until they run out of reinforcements. Afterwards, the fun cycle of discovery and invention continues as players explore the world of "Fortnite."

What's impressive about this world is that it's procedurally generated, meaning that every time a player enters a new game match, the layout of the environment is always different. "[This encourages] exploration, discovery, that feeling of possibility, those are all big parts of the game and the upside for the player is huge," vice president of product development Paul Meegan said.

When it comes to the creativity involved with playing this game, it rivals the great simplicity and freedom of constructing imaginative ideas that "Minecraft" allows players to do so well. Large, seemingly complex structures can be built with an excellent set of crafting tools and options that "Fortnite" offers, focusing more on practicality and efficiency rather than detail.

The bizarre enemies of "Fortnite." (Photo courtesy of Gameinformer)

There is much more to be said about the game, such as how many different kinds of weapons players will be able to use; how the art style went from a more realistic, darker tone to a more playful, stylized approach; how the enemies differ in their abilities and strengths; and how different player classes will function. More of this can be seen on Gameinformer, which is gradually revealing more information about the game this month.

However, the one fact that anyone interested in "Fortnite" should know is that it will be absolutely free, and there's a good reason why.

"It's a great way to have a conversation with players because they're not obligated to like it. We have to do our jobs; we have to be awesome game creators to say 'It's worth your time to play this game,' and I think we've done that,"  producer Roger Collum said. "We want [players] to tell us what they want because we're gamers, too, and we recognize that ... we don't have all the right ideas." 

With this game, Epic Games wants to build a trust and partnership with its consumers, allowing anyone to jump into the experience and help shape "Fortnite" for the better. Players can pay to earn special items and equipment if they want, but no one is at a disadvantage if they don't do this. It's a fair experience that does "free-to-play" right, and the development team is excited to see how their game will resonate with everyone upon its release in 2015 for the PC.