After Gears of War and Bulletstorm, most of us have the misconception that any game released under the Epic Games banner will star burly, tank-like armoured men with gravelly voices, and they’ll probably be “bros”. Cliff Blezsinski, Gears of War creator, has confirmed that Epic’s upcoming project, Fortnite, won’t have any “dudebros.” Lead developer Lee Perry also says that the game is definitely inspired by Minecraft.
“There’s no dudebros in it,” Bleszinski told Joystiq. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, right? But creatively for the team, Gears has been amazing for us. But it’s fun to kind of stretch our wings and do something that’s a little different from the usual.”
“It was a project that was pitched internally,” he continued, talking about how they came about developing Fortnite eventually, a game that seems so different from the titles Epic usually works on. “I was a staunch supporter of the idea, because the game is just like a no-brainer — I was like yes.”
On Twitter, Lee Perry said: “Minecraft was an inspiration for sure.”
“Minecraft lets you build ANYTHING,” he continued. “
we are focusing on constructing ‘buildings’ specifically.”
“I see lots of questions asking if #fortnite is freeform construction. It is. It’s not scripted or just boarding up existing structures.
“It stands to reason if you can build a world, anything can be destroyed,” he added. “It’s not scripted or just boarding up existing structures.”
Bleszinski also said, while responding to a fan, that chances of weapon crafting/traps, a leveling system, underground exploration and boss fights being featured in the game were “high.”
It looks like a unique and interesting idea, and I’m definitely curious to see how Epic pulls it off. Have a look at its reveal here.