Skip to main content

"I tried to cancel Fortnite," says Former Epic Games director

"That game would not have passed my bar."

A former Epic Games director has admitted he would have cancelled Fortnite if he'd remained at the company.

In a candid conversation with Game Informer (thanks, PC Gamer), The Coalition's Rod Fergusson - who had previously worked for Epic before joining the Gears 5 developer - admitted the game "would not have passed [his quality] bar", adding he had "tried to cancel" the game before he left his director role.

"If I stayed at Epic, I would have cancelled Fortnite," Fergusson said. "Before I left, I tried to cancel Fortnite. When it was Save the World... that was a project that had some challenges.

"And as the director of production at the time, that game would not have passed my bar for something we should continue to keep going...

"So when people look at me and say 'don't you feel bad [that he left before Fortnite's stratospheric success]?' I say no, you should feel really good, because that game you love - that worldwide sensation - would not exist had I stayed at Epic."

He "do[esn't] lose sleep" over it, though, and maintains he's "super happy for [Epic's] success".

Watch on YouTube

Read this next

Vikki Blake avatar
Vikki Blake: When​ ​her friends​ ​were falling in love with soap stars, Vikki was falling in love with​ ​video games. She's a survival horror survivalist​ ​with a penchant for​ ​Yorkshire Tea, men dressed up as doctors and sweary words. She struggles to juggle a fair-to-middling Destiny/Halo addiction​ ​and her kill/death ratio is terrible.
In this article

Fortnite

Android, iOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch

Eurogamer is better when you sign in

Join our community of gamers and get access to personalised reading recommendations and much more!