Fortnite: Battle Royalehas grown so big that other game studios are legally purchasing the rights to fan-made maps.
The buyer?Gaijin Entertainment- developers of popular war simWar Thunder- have taken a break from dealing withleaks of classified military documentsto scoop up The Pit, a massively popular fanmade Fortnite map.
The seller? Gavin Gear (aka ‘Geerzy’), who is now several million dollars richer.
What Comes After Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader? Epic Wants You To Pick
The big free update was actually a tech demo? And a marketing ploy?? Who could have guessed?
Just to give you a break from all those mental flashbangs, here’s a quick rundown of what “The Pit” actually is.
Players jump into a massive open space with unlimited stocks of everything that matters: supplies to build, ammo to shoot, lives to respawn with, the works. It’s a special kind of instant chaos normally reserved for highlight moments of the standard Battle Royale experience.
Instead of the tension building over the course of a whole match, instead of dying and having to start a new round from scratch, The Pit is an all-killer, no-filler bout of sheer chaos. Good fun.
“The Pit has been a defining project for me," Geerzysaid in a press releaseabout the sale, “and I’m thrilled to see it enter a new phase under Gaijin Entertainment.”
Their expertise in online gaming and commitment to innovation make [Gaijin Entertainment] the perfect team to take The Pit to the next level.
Buying The Pit Was An Expensive Deal, But Not Without Purpose
The deal cost Gaijin a currently-unknown sum, though the press release does claim it in the multi-million range. You see, Fortnite maps like these are monetized though Epic’s creator payment program.
However, Gaijin will not be handling those funds directly. The purchase went through a subsidiary company of theirs, EndoWorlds - a “Gaijin Portfolio studio”. EndoWorlds is the legal owner of The Pit, though Gaijin isn’t shy about their control here, and few people are pretending otherwise.
FTC Says Fortnite Must Refund Over 900,000 Transactions
The FTC refers to it as “Epic’s deceptive billing practices.”
“With this acquisition,” the press release continues, “Gaijin Entertainment continues to evolve beyond its traditional portfolio, embracing new business models and looking for more ways to bring new fun experiences to gamers on all modern and future platforms.”
EndoWorlds intends to continue development on The Pit, following a two-month transition period. They have not specified what changes or upgrades they intend to make, but both Geerzy and the new team seem confident in what’s to come.
