Fortnite's Walking Dead Game: A New Era for Game Development

The gaming industry has faced significant challenges in recent times, with layoffs, studio closures, and funding issues becoming all too common. Enrique Fuentes, CEO and co-founder of Teravision Games, felt these pressures firsthand following the release of their asymmetrical horror game, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, inspired by the 80s film. Despite receiving positive reviews, including a 7 from IGN, and garnering hundreds of thousands of views for its trailers, Teravision struggled to secure a follow-up project in the turbulent market of 2024.

Fuentes notes, "As you know, 2024 was a pretty tough year for the whole industry. So it was a little bit slow for us to close our next project." Despite previous collaborations with major brands like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Xbox, the studio faced difficulties until they pivoted to a new approach: developing games within Fortnite using Unreal Engine for Fortnite (UEFN). In less than a year, Teravision released three UEFN games, with their fourth game, Courtyard King, launching today. This game, developed in partnership with Skybound, leverages the official The Walking Dead content pack in UEFN.

Courtyard King is a King of the Hill-style multiplayer PvPvE game set in The Walking Dead's iconic prison location. Players battle each other and NPC zombies to control territory. The game uses official The Walking Dead assets, including character models of Rick Grimes, Negan, and Daryl Dixon, and features a story crafted with input from Skybound's writers.

Fuentes highlights the shift to UEFN: "Instead of a multi-year project like Killer Clowns From Outer Space, these are projects that we could put together in weeks or months." He also emphasizes the growing trend of user-generated content (UGC) in gaming, particularly with platforms like Fortnite. "UGC, it's one of the biggest things in gaming right now," he says, noting that UGC developed by professional studios is a relatively new but promising field.

Teravision's foray into UEFN began with Havoc Hotel, a roguelike shooter that became a modest hit and led to the successful Havoc Hotel 3, now one of Fortnite's most popular games. The transition to UEFN was smooth for Teravision, given their experience with Unreal Engine, as game designer Martin Rodriguez explains, "For us, it just removes some of the work that we would’ve done otherwise and allows us to focus on just making better games and explore different new creative ideas."

However, the game design team faced unique challenges with UEFN's different approach to gameplay. Creative director LD Zambrano notes, "In UEFN's case, we have found that even though those objectives are still relevant... there are a lot of experiences that are very popular within the Fortnite ecosystem that are kind of just context." He compares UEFN games to playground games, where the focus is on interaction and creativity rather than strict competition.

Courtyard King embodies this philosophy as an infinite game with no final winner, allowing players to join or leave at any time and even switch teams, fostering dynamic gameplay and potential for betrayal, reminiscent of The Walking Dead's themes.

Fuentes sees a bright future for game developers in UEFN, stating, "This is now a viable model where you can actually support an 80 person studio like we do, and we can assume the risk." He believes that with the right ideas and creativity, UEFN offers indie developers a chance to innovate quickly and efficiently, turning what was once a dream into a reality.