Fortnite, Epic's Minecraft-meets-tower defense mash-up, will be out this year

Remember Fortnite? It was revealed in 2011 as a sort of Team Fortress 2 meets Minecraft hybrid, and there was an alpha test in 2015, which was also the year it was supposed to be out. We've heard little about it since then outside of alpha updates, though—until today, when Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney said during a talk at GDC that it's set to ship "in the year ahead."

The remark so was made with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, and came and went so quickly that it wasn't clear what exactly he meant. But an Epic rep confirmed in a follow-up email that he did in fact mean that Fortnite will be out this year. It wasn't the most detailed statement ever—"2017 is correct!" was the extent of it—but now we know.

We got some hands-on time with Fortnite back in the summer of 2015, and even though it's almost certainly changed quite a bit since then, it'll still give you a good idea of what's in store. Dig in here.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.