Among Us devs react to Fortnite's shameless 'Impostor' mode rip off

Among Us
Among Us (Image credit: InnerSloth LLC)

Source: Epic Games (Image credit: Source: Epic Games)

In the latest act of self-immolation, Epic Games has revealed its utter hypocrisy with a total and utter rip-off of InnerSloth's Among Us. The new Among Us-style Fortnite game mode sports an eerily familiar map, as well as Impostors, mimicking the hit title's social deduction gameplay.

Epic Games is among the largest players in the industry, shipping one of the world's most popular multiplayer games, boasting incredible monetization potential. The title dominates the games industry, drawing hundreds of millions of players, securing deals with brands like Nike and Marvel, and even hosting full concerts with Travis Scott and Ariana Grande. Epic Games also packages and sells the Unreal Engine, earning millions in revenue from big publishers building games on its system.

You'd think with all this bottomless well of cash that Fortnite's dev team would have the capacity to come up with original ideas. Sadly, that is not the case.

Fortnite rips off Among Us

Fortnite Impostors Assignments 1920x1080 9e5801aac71c

Source: Epic Games (Image credit: Source: Epic Games)

We shouldn't exactly be surprised here, considering Fortnite is already basically a rip off of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), famously pivoting from its failed horde-style "Save the World" gameplay in a whiplash attempt to salvage what was ultimately a struggling game. Thankfully for Fortnite, its capacity for knocking things off is far better than its capacity for original ideas, and the battle royale became a big hit.

Not content with using characters from other franchises and buying up celebrity endorsements with in-game promos, Fortnite has realized that it has once again run out of original content ideas, turning to the indie scene to find what it can steal next. Unfortunately for the intrepid developers at InnerSloth, Epic Games' incurable greed turned to Among Us, the indie social deduction game that captured the imagination of millions.

In the new Impostors game mode, Fortnite players effectively engage in what is identical gameplay to that of Among Us, stealing not only the map style and layout but also the famous "impostor" description, unique to Among Us' take on the genre. Considering Epic Games cried like children in court over how Apple seeks to monetize its platform, attempting to position itself as a small company being attacked by a big meanie corporation, this situation comes across as hypocritical at best, and laughably depressing at worst.

Among Us devs react

Among Us certainly didn't invent the social deduction genre, much like PUBG didn't invent the battle royale genre. The egregiousness is in how utterly brazen Epic Games is being in its wholesale theft of design and content from a smaller company, without adding a shred of uniqueness or its own spin into proceedings. I wholly expect we'll see Fortnite rip off Fall Guys or another trending game down the line as well.

Epic Games could have collaborated with Among Us, to improve the health of the industry, and help promote a smaller dev with its utterly vast cash reserves. Instead, it punched down, in a much similar way to how Epic CEO Tim Sweeney constantly claims on Twitter that how Apple treated poor little Epic Games over developer fees on the Apple iOS store. And ultimately, it's the small team at InnerSloth who end up hurt.

While being far kinder than I would be, various devs from InnerSloth chimed in to voice their bewilderment recently, confused over how Epic Games would rather steal, than collaborate.

Epic Games, epic hypocrisy

Epic-Games

Source: Epic Games (Image credit: Source: Epic Games)

Epic and Apple actually have a lot in common. Just like Apple, Epic often builds on established ideas, even back as far as Unreal Tournament, which took inspiration from Quake. Epic is to video gaming what Apple is to the tech world, taking ideas other companies put forward and using their vast cash reserves to present them in a slightly more polished way. A cynic might suggest Tim Sweeney's lawsuit against Apple could be seen as a very, very expensive psychological projection. And hey, I am a cynic.

Epic Games is the very definition of hypocrisy, and this likely won't be the last time we see the firm commit wholesale intellectual theft rather than come up with new ideas. What's next? Fortnite Gear Solid? Super Fortnite Bros? Legend of Fortnite? Only time will tell.

Jez Corden
Co-Managing Editor

Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!