There might not be a single game in the world bigger than Epic Games’ Fortnite. The cartoonish Battle Royale might be best known for dancing and silly memes, but it’s also a pretty fun game in its own right. It is constantly updating, adding in new content, and has never been afraid to change everything, including the map.
Fortnite is also well-known for doing crossovers with other IPs. They’ve allowed people to play as superstar athletes like LeBron James, watch Ariana Grande put on a concert in the game, and even teamed up with superheroes. What’s even more fun about this is that, when these people are added to their game, they become part of the Fortnite universe. This means that all of these IPs are connected together in some strange way and it’s an example of how the devs at Epic aren’t afraid to get weird with their crossovers.
It’s also why the developers of last summer’s hit game, Among Us, are really unhappy with them right now. Fortnite recently added a new limited-time mode called “Impostors” where players will be able to hunt down someone that is betraying the group through sabotage. Find the impostor and you win, but if the impostor is a good enough at lying, they can escape the group unharmed. The concept alone isn’t unique — Call of Duty recently announced a similar mode of their own — but that’s not why the developers of Among Us are upset. They’re upset because it looks like Fortnite did a lot more than be “inspired” by Among Us to create this new impostor mode.
— Gary Porter (@supergarydeluxe) August 17, 2021
It’s okay tho they flipped electrical and medbay and connected security to the cafeteria. pic.twitter.com/XXVsJPpiXn
— Gary Porter (@supergarydeluxe) August 17, 2021
Naming your mode “Impostors” is one thing, but the maps are so close to one another it’s hard to not see why the developers of Among Us would be so irritated. Even worse is that with Fortnite and Among Us history of crossovers, this could have been a really cool opportunity for the two developers to work together. Among Us Community Director Victoria Tran even said as much in a tweet.
it would’ve been really, really cool to collab haha.
just sad indie hours rn.
— Victoria Tran
(@TheVTran) August 17, 2021
like game mechanics fine, those shouldn’t be gatekept, but at the very least even different themes or terminology makes things more interesting?
— Victoria Tran
It’s pretty clear that the developers of Among Us have no problem with others taking inspiration from their success and making their own games. The concept of someone sabotaging the group and everyone else trying to discover them is not a unique one. The party game Werewolf, also known as Mafia, has been doing it for years. However, if you’re going to make a mode like this, maybe don’t name it after the main villains of the game you’re clearly taking inspiration from while also barely changing the maps, especially when that game has never shied away from crossovers.