Skip to main content

Epic Games' long-awaited 'Fortnite' is only a few short fortnights away

Fortnite
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Here’s something that we were increasingly unsure if we were ever going to get to say: Epic Games has announced that Fortnite will enter Early Access July 25 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac. You can preregister and pre-order the game over at the official website.

“Bringing Fortnite to life has been a true labor of love by a talented and dedicated team over many years,” creative director Darren Sugg said in a press release. “We’re excited to share the experience and start playing along with more gamers in early access this summer.”

Recommended Videos

Many years indeed. The cooperative survival game, in which players build bases during the day fit to defend against waves of zombies at night, was announced way back in 2011. Fortnite has been MIA in recent years, as Epic worked on its free-to-play MOBA Paragon. We even included it on our vaporware list highlighting games that were still believed to be in development, but absent from the public eye for some time.

At GDC in March, Epic co-founder Tim Sweeney told Polygon that Fortnite would enter open beta within a year. Early access is different than an open beta, though. For starters, you will have to buy a copy of Fortnite, but most importantly, it means that the game is potentially further along than expected.

No two runs through the game will be the same, as Fortnite‘s landscape is randomly generated. Players will explore for crafting materials, and build structures capable of defending from an onslaught of zombies.

The early  access version is dubbed the Fortnite Founders Pack, which gives players access to 2017 seasonal events, as well deals on additional heroes, weapons, loot, and in-game upgrades. If you pre-order the Founders Pack, you can start playing four days early on July 21, and you will receive the Storm Master Weapon Pack. A physical edition of the game will be available on Xbox One and PS4, as part of a partnership between Epic and Gearbox Publishing.

We imagine we’ll hear more about Fortnite at E3 next week, ahead of its July 25 debut.

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
How did multiple unannounced games leak through the Epic Games Store?
Final Fantasy 16's cover showcasing its protagonist infront of two demon summons.

In an event not seen since numerous video games leaked through Nvidia GeForce Now, a third-party tool accidentally exposed a bunch of listings on the Epic Games Store. A website called EpicDB featured public pages for a bunch of unannounced titles from Square Enix, Sony, Sega, Saber Interactive, and many other publishers.

While a lot of what people found were codenames Tuesday night, going through the metadata and looking at related files revealed a lot about what they could actually be. The story is a bit confusing, so let's break down exactly what went down, what games leaked, and what steps Epic is already taking to prevent it from happening again.
So, what happened?
EpicDB is an Epic Games Store equivalent of SteamDB, an unofficial database of everything on the digital games platform. Valve doesn't publicly release sales data, but you can glean a lot from SteamDB's charts and lists, which provide a more detailed view of how games are doing on Steam. It's a great way to see if player count is spiking, what has been wishlisted the most, and how games do over multiple years.

Read more
Metallica is bringing fuel, fire, and fury to Fortnite
James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo in their Puppet Master Fortnite outfits. Flames are coming out of their eyes.

Take my hand, we're off to Fortnite land. The battle royale game's next major musical guest is no other than Metallica, and like other performers, they can make their way over to your Fortnite game.

From June 22 to 23, players can hop into Fortnite Discover to witness the 30-minute Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury. in Fortnite Festival. There are three time slots available on each day, so there are plenty of opportunities to catch the performance. You can see the schedule over on the Fortnite website.

Read more
You can now play this underrated Marvel RPG for free thanks to Epic Games Store
Lilith, Mother of Demons, in the Marvel's Midnight Suns trailer.

If you missed out on Marvel's Midnight Suns, the 2022 turn-based RPG from XCOM developer Firaxis Games -- and based on the poor sales numbers, a lot of you did -- you can now play it for free thanks to the Epic Games Store.

The storefront has a new free game for users to claim every week, and this time it's Marvel's Midnight Suns. However, you only have until June 13 to claim the game for free. The deal only applies to the base game, although the two editions with extras are also on sale. The digital+ version comes with 11 premium skins and is on sale for $20 (down from the $80 full price). If you want access to all the post-launch characters -- Deadpool, Venom, Morbius, and Storm -- along with those premium skins, you can purchase the legendary edition for $25 (down from $100).

Read more