I was CTO and lead developer at a very small startup making a game in UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite). The project was closed after release. I’m writing a short postmortem in case it helps anyone planning a launch, on Fortnite or any other platform.
What we did
We went for one big, highly polished first project: custom systems, polish, optimization. The assumption was that a really polished game would have a strong release.
What happened
The game didn’t get the reach it needed after launch, and the investors decided to close the project.
What I’d argued for
A smaller first release, so we could learn how discovery and marketing actually work in Fortnite, with more of the budget held back for marketing. What I think about most now is the order of things. We spent the big budget before we’d run the cheap test of whether players would find us.
A technical problem I’m still happy with
We were running short on memory because of how many gas stations we had placed as devices. We replaced them with a 3D model and built a fully custom car repair system in the neutral zone. That solved the memory problem. Happy to go into more detail if anyone is hitting similar limits.
What I do differently now
I work as a producer and delivery manager these days. Before any big build, I want to know what we’re trying to learn from the first release and how much budget stays untouched for getting the game seen.
For people who’ve shipped on any platform: how do you test discoverability before committing a full budget?
TL;DR: We polished heavily, launched with little reach, and the project was closed. Next time I’d ship something small first, learn how discovery works, and keep real budget for marketing.