If you haven’t been paying attention this past weekend, you may have missed this story, but in that case you’re in for one big failure of a story. A highly anticipated festival aimed at the young audience for the popular Epic battle royale title turned out to be a major letdown over the week as more than 2,500 people attended, and ended up demanding refunds or leaving disappointed. In short, it looks like Fortnite just had its own DashCon, and Epic isn’t having it.
Many customers said it felt like a rushed and low-quality affair, comparing it to a school festival in terms of fun and quality. Many of the attractions had absolutely nothing to do with Fortnite or Epic, as was the case with almost everything at the event. The event included a rock-climbing wall, bouncy castle and a “cave experience”, which was actually just a small trailer with a darkened tunnel constructed inside. In terms of actual Fortnite-related content there wasn’t much. The entire presence of the popular video game amounted to a handful of machines where the game was playable.
This whole “wonderful” experience cost £12 for a basic pass and £20 for an unlimited pass. The lines were depressingly long at every attraction, with kids and parents alike feeling ripped off and frustrated the entire time.
In response to the kerfuffle, Epic has apparently filed suit against the organizers, Exciting Events. In a statement to Eurogamer, Epic have announced they’re taking legal action and have “issued a claim against the organisers in the High Court of London”, which means Exciting Events is about to be in a world of legal trouble. Because a multi-billion dollar corporation going after you for tarnishing their prize IP won’t come down well for you.
Attendees weren’t happy either, many demanded refunds on the social media pages for Exciting Events. Exciting Events has begun purging their social media profiles, and their website, which used to list other Fortnite events in other UK cities. Further more, in response to the legal action Exciting Events has announced it has been “forced… to cease all trading activities immediately”. The company is being liquidated and the resulting cash will be distributed among creditors. That list of creditors includes those customers that secured individual agreements for a refund at Fortnite Live’s event on Saturday February 16th, and those that received ticket cancellation emails before 10am on the Sunday. Anyone who already purchased a ticket to the now cancelled events will also be entitled to a refund.
“These proceedings by Epic Games has had a catastrophic impact on the company’s ability to trade, which has forced Exciting Events Limited to cease all trading activities immediately and the director of Exciting Events will now seek to limit the losses to third parties as far as possible.”
Well, if this was the caliber of the events you normally put on, you probably shouldn’t be in the business in the first place.
