Fortnite Creative players get special permission to recreate the game's original map

Fortnite
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Epic Games is updating its terms and conditions to grant special permission to those recreating in-game versions of Fortnite Battle Royale's original map.

Earlier this week, Epic finally launched Fortnite Creative 2.0, enabling large-scale player creations such as maps, modes, and more. Recreating copyrighted intellectual property, such as previous versions of Fortnite, isn't allowed under the game's terms and conditions, but Epic is granting special permission to fans recreating the original Battle Royale map.

"We are as excited as you to relive the experiences we shared in the original Fortnite Battle Royale Chapter 1 map, and so we are granting a special and specific exception to allow creators to publish their own remakes of the Chapter 1 maps," Epic's announcement reads. Epic reasserts that this is the only exception they'll be making for Unreal Editor creations.

Epic is making this exemption because teams of fans have actually already recreated Fortnite's original Battle Royale map in Unreal Editor. One team, called Reboot Royale, has just recently put their recreation into beta, which is why Epic Games has been so quick on announcing the change in their policy.

It's great that Epic is making this change, and it's a surprising win for games preservation. There's never been a way to revisit Fortnite's past, but now we finally have a way of taking a little trip back in time to the Battle Royale mode's origins, which first came about over five years ago at this point.

However, it's still important to remember Epic won't allow any other Fortnite recreations based on existing IP. So don't get too excited for Half-Life or other recreations to appear in Epic's game, because they'll be gone quicker than you can load them up.

Check out our Fortnite character locations guide if you're struggling to track anyone down in Season 2.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.