I don't think Fortnite is a good example of Epic "knowing what they're doing". The game was stuck in development hell for many years during the closed betas and they really didn't seem to know how to fix the game (it took them 6 years to release the primary game mode as "early access", which it is still labelled as). It never really took off until a small part of the team spent less than 2 months on replicating PUBG's battle royale mode into the game as an experiment. That's not really "knowing what to do", that's more some kind of luck or serendipity.

> it is somewhat derivative

I'd argue it's a lot more than somewhat derivative.

The game mechanics are a direct rip-off of Player Unknown Battlegrounds, except more 'kid friendly.' The only notable differences are being cartoonish and the addition of a building system (which looks a whole lot like the one in Rust). Here is a side-by-side video of gameplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KN6_Ibxnpk.

Their main source of income is selling in-game emotes like dances, which are all stolen without paying any royalty to their creators.

Which was a ripoff of h1z1, which was a ripoff of day z, which was a ripoff CoD zombies, which was a ripoff of battlefield, which was a ripoff of quake, which was a ripoff of doom, etc., etc.

Probably missing a bunch of steps but you get the picture.

The building system in Rust is a lot like H1Z1, but it is very different from Day-Z. Rust and H1Z1 differ in that Rust is not a zombie survival game, unlike the original (now discontinued) version of H1Z1. Coincidentally Fortnite was originally designed as a zombie survival game and shifted to battle royale late in development, much like H1Z1.

COD Zombies doesn't have building other than at specific points where you could reinforce barricades.

At the time the first COD Zombies game mode was released (Call of Duty: World at War) Battlefield did not yet have a barricading system (like it does now) or any sort of wave-based survival mode.

Quake is a deathmatch shooter, Battlefield is a tactical shooter. Very little resemblance.

Quake was made by the same people as Doom.

My point is that Fortnite copies very much from PUBG. I didn't make any arguments about whether that is acceptable or precedented.

I think this argument is silly tbh. Are we going to say no games can have a zombie mode or team deathmatch because games have done it before? Battle royale is basically free for all game mode but with a persistent death mechanic which has been around since the dawn of gaming - the idea that it can be ripped off rather than just iterated on doesn't hold for me

>My point is that Fortnite copies very much from PUBG. I didn't make any arguments about whether that is acceptable or precedented.

Please read what I said and don't put words in my mouth.

when everythings been done everything looks like a ripoff. the point is how it all comes together in their own setting.