It's almost unthinkable, but Epic nearly made a huge mistake by cancelling Fortnite, the hugely popular Battle Royale that has brought in huge revenue for the company, as former Director and current developer of Gears 5, Rodd Fergusson, explains...

Speaking to Game Informer, Rod explained that he nearly tried twice to cancel the game. The first time was during it's initial concept phase, he explains, but he nearly did the same again during development, before Battle Royale was an included game mode.

It's hard to remember now, but Fortnite wasn't a Battle Royale when it first launched - instead it had a co-op Zombie mode called Save the World, before Battle Royale was added later and the Fortnite we know today was born.

As the director of production at the time, that game would not have passed my bar for something we should have continued to keep going...That game you love, the worldwide sensation, would not exist had I stayed at Epic.

If I stayed at Epic, I would have canceled Fortnite. Before I left, I tried to cancel Fortnite. When it was Save the World, that was a project that had some challenges. As the director of production at the time, that game would not have passed my bar for something we should have continued to keep going...That game you love, the worldwide sensation, would not exist had I stayed at Epic.

Rod may regret the decision given the huge success of Fortnite, and the fortune it's made Epic in the years since it's release, however, when asked, he stated he was "super happy for [the team's] success".