Game Developer Explores New Frontiers with Walking Dead in Fortnite

The gaming industry has faced significant challenges in recent years, with layoffs, studio closures, and funding issues becoming all too common. Enrique Fuentes, CEO and co-founder of Teravision Games, experienced these challenges firsthand following the release of their game, Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Despite the game receiving positive reviews, including a 7 from IGN, and garnering hundreds of thousands of views on its trailers, Teravision struggled to secure their next project in 2024.

Fuentes noted, "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 past collaborations with major companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Xbox, the studio found it difficult to move forward. With time running out, Teravision decided to pivot and explore a new avenue: creating games within Fortnite using Unreal Engine for Fortnite (UEFN).

In less than a year, Teravision successfully released three UEFN games and is now launching their fourth, Courtyard King. This game, developed in partnership with Skybound and utilizing official The Walking Dead assets, is a King of the Hill style multiplayer PvPvE experience set in the iconic prison from the series. Players battle both each other and NPC zombies to control territory, with character models and story elements directly from The Walking Dead crafted in collaboration with Skybound's writers.

Fuentes highlighted the shift from traditional game development, stating, "Instead of a multi-year project like Killer Klowns From Outer Space, these are projects that we could put together in weeks or months." He emphasized the growing trend of user-generated content (UGC) in gaming, particularly within platforms like Fortnite. UGC, traditionally associated with players creating content at home, has evolved to include professional studios using tools like UEFN, which are based on Unreal Engine 5.

Teravision's foray into UEFN began with Havoc Hotel, a roguelike shooter that became a modest success, leading to the development of Havoc Hotel 3, which is now one of Fortnite's most popular games. The studio's game designer, Martin Rodriguez, explained that the transition to UEFN was smooth for the team due to their prior experience with Unreal Engine. "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," Rodriguez said.

The creative director, LD Zambrano, noted the unique design challenges presented by UEFN games, which differ from traditional games. "A traditional experience we have had designing other [non-UEFN] games is where players relate through objectives that entice cooperation and competition, right? In [UEFN’s] case, we have found that even though those objectives are still relevant and we still can use that game design sensibility and bring them there, I found that there are a lot of experiences that are very popular within the Fortnite ecosystem that are kind of just context," Zambrano explained. He likened UEFN games to playground interactions, where players create and engage in spontaneous, often non-competitive games.

Courtyard King embodies this concept with its infinite game structure, where matches continue indefinitely, allowing players to join and leave at will and even switch teams, fostering dynamic interactions and betrayals reminiscent of The Walking Dead.

Fuentes sees a bright future for game developers in this model, particularly for indie studios. "We can actually assume the risk as an indie developer in [UEFN]. Because last year, we couldn’t even think about starting a three-year project. We could do something in a few weeks with a smaller team and that completely changes the paradigm for a new developer," he said. "This is now a viable model where you can actually support an 80 person studio like we do, and we can assume the risk. It’s something that if you have the right ideas, the right creativity around it, if you understand the market well enough and you have the right thinking, execution becomes possible and it doesn’t take years, it actually takes weeks, maybe months. I think this is a dream come true for indie developers."