‘Fortnite’ boss hits back at claims the battle royale is “ruining” video games

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has hit back at claims Fortnite is “ruining” video games.

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Online multiplayer battle royale game Fortnite first launched in 2017 and is one of the most popular titles around, with 1.1million people playing on average every day. It’s become famous for its many high-profile collaborations with everyone from Spider-Man to Kendrick Lamar having an in-game skin while Fortnite Festival has hosted official crossovers with Sabrina Carpenter, The Weeknd and more.

Gamers have blamed Fortnite for “ruining” other titles such as Call Of Duty, which has started introducing more collaborations and “unrealistic” skins following the success of the battle royale title. There are also concerns that people are spending so much time in Fortnite, they’re not playing other games.  Earlier this year, it was reported that “over 70 per cent of US active PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S players played at least one of the Top 10 live service games of the month during January.”

It’s why, at the Game Developers Conference in March, one developer joked that the biggest enemy to all video games was Fortnite. It’s a sentiment that’s frequently shared online as well.

Fortnite didn't damage the gaming industry

All your favorite games copying Fortnite ruined the gaming industry pic.twitter.com/4IiPkm3MXN

— JawsClaws (@JawsClawsPaws) July 9, 2025

In a new interview with TheGameBusiness, Tim Sweeney has hit back at those claims. “Every game developer’s mission is to make the most fun game possible. And the development of Fortnite since it launched in 2017 has been in the pursuit of fun.”

“To some extent that’s causing players to switch from other games into Fortnite because there’s just so much cool stuff there. But on the other hand, we’re creating opportunities for all developers to actually move their business into this interconnected world of Fortnite and pursue new revenue streams,” he continued.

I'd go as far as saying Fortnite ruined multiplayer gaming https://t.co/nQSnawr4u7

— Rogue Icarus (@derrick_o91) July 29, 2025

“A lot of the things we do with our partners are highly complementary. God Of War characters coming into Fortnite, Halo characters coming into Fortnite… all these cross-over events are really cross-promoting and enabling everybody to benefit from the rising tide that lifts all ships.”

“Because we’re seeing players increasingly drawn towards social experiences, that’s causing a rise in games like Fortnite and Roblox, but a decline in single player games and a decline in smaller multiplayer games as well,” he explains. Sweeney went on to say the decline in single-player games is “a real challenge” that “the whole industry is facing.”

“And there’s no solution to that other than getting every standalone game much more socially connected, and economically connected, to an interoperable metaverse ecosystem,” he added.

Earlier this year it was confirmed that the upcoming Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 will have the same controversial skins that have caused a divide in the Black Ops 6 fanbase.

In other news, Lord Of The Rings fans have been disappointed by the long-awaited release of cosy game Tales Of The Shire, which finally launched yesterday.

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