"Game Developer Explores New Frontiers with Walking Dead in Fortnite"

The games industry has been facing significant challenges in recent years, marked by layoffs, studio closures, and dwindling funding sources. Enrique Fuentes, CEO and co-founder of Teravision Games, found himself navigating these turbulent waters after the release of their game, *Killer Klowns From Outer Space*. Despite the game receiving positive feedback, with IGN awarding it a 7 and praising its entertainment value reminiscent of the 80s movie it was based on, Teravision struggled to secure a follow-up project. The trailers for *Killer Klowns From Outer Space* garnered hundreds of thousands of views, but the post-launch period proved challenging for the studio.

“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,” Fuentes reflects. Despite their previous collaborations with major companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Xbox, finding a new project was difficult. In response, Teravision turned to a novel approach: developing games within Fortnite using Unreal Engine for Fortnite (UEFN). In less than a year, they successfully released three UEFN games, with their fourth, *Courtyard King*, launching today. This game leverages the official *The Walking Dead* content pack in UEFN, developed in partnership with Skybound, the company co-founded by *The Walking Dead* creator Robert Kirkman.

*Courtyard King* is a King of the Hill style multiplayer PvPvE game set in *The Walking Dead’s* iconic prison location. Players battle each other and NPC zombies to control territory, using official assets including character models of Rick Grimes, Negan, and Daryl Dixon. Teravision worked closely with Skybound's writers to craft the game’s narrative and dialogue, enhancing the authenticity of the experience.

“Instead of a multi-year project like *Killer Klowns From Outer Space*, these are projects that we could put together in weeks or months,” Fuentes explains. The shift to UEFN allowed Teravision to experiment with user-generated content (UGC), a burgeoning trend in gaming driven by platforms like Fortnite. While UGC typically refers to content created by players, professional studios like Teravision are now leveraging these tools to create engaging experiences.

“It made sense because we come from an engineering background and it was a platform where we could experiment in and assume some of the risk,” Fuentes adds. This approach led to the creation of *Havoc Hotel*, a roguelike shooter that became a modest hit and evolved into *Havoc Hotel 3*, now one of Fortnite’s most popular games.

Teravision’s game designer, Martin Rodriguez, highlights the advantage of using UEFN, a modified version of Unreal Engine 5. “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,” he says. The transition was smooth for the studio, given their prior experience with Unreal Engine.

The game design team faced unique challenges adapting to UEFN, as LD Zambrano, Teravision’s creative director, explains. “A traditional experience we have had designing other [non-UEFN] games is where players relate through objectives that entice cooperation and competition, right?” he notes. However, UEFN games thrive on different dynamics, often focusing on context and unique interactions rather than clear competition.

Zambrano likens UEFN games to schoolyard play. “I have found that there is this way of approaching each other that brings me back to recess, which is you meet somebody and make up some sort of game that might not make sense, but still you’re engaging and creating friendships,” he says. This approach is evident in *Courtyard King*, which is designed as an infinite game without a final winner. Players can join or leave at any time, even switch teams, fostering dynamic and unpredictable gameplay reminiscent of *The Walking Dead*.

“Players can drop in and drop out whenever they want. They can even change teams whenever they like, which generates situations for betrayals. Maybe you enter a party with your friend, but then in the middle of the match you don’t tell him and change teams. Which is very Walking Dead-like,” Zambrano adds.

This new model offers significant benefits for indie developers like Teravision. “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,” Fuentes states. “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.”