Epic Games' long-awaited 'Fortnite' is only a few short fortnights away

Here’s something that we were increasingly unsure if we were ever going to get to say: Epic Games has announced that Fortnite will enter Early Access July 25 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac. You can preregister and pre-order the game over at the official website.

“Bringing Fortnite to life has been a true labor of love by a talented and dedicated team over many years,” creative director Darren Sugg said in a press release. “We’re excited to share the experience and start playing along with more gamers in early access this summer.”

Many years indeed. The cooperative survival game, in which players build bases during the day fit to defend against waves of zombies at night, was announced way back in 2011. Fortnite has been MIA in recent years, as Epic worked on its free-to-play MOBA Paragon. We even included it on our vaporware list highlighting games that were still believed to be in development, but absent from the public eye for some time.

At GDC in March, Epic co-founder Tim Sweeney told Polygon that Fortnite would enter open beta within a year. Early access is different than an open beta, though. For starters, you will have to buy a copy of Fortnite, but most importantly, it means that the game is potentially further along than expected.

No two runs through the game will be the same, as Fortnite‘s landscape is randomly generated. Players will explore for crafting materials, and build structures capable of defending from an onslaught of zombies.

The early  access version is dubbed the Fortnite Founders Pack, which gives players access to 2017 seasonal events, as well deals on additional heroes, weapons, loot, and in-game upgrades. If you pre-order the Founders Pack, you can start playing four days early on July 21, and you will receive the Storm Master Weapon Pack. A physical edition of the game will be available on Xbox One and PS4, as part of a partnership between Epic and Gearbox Publishing.

We imagine we’ll hear more about Fortnite at E3 next week, ahead of its July 25 debut.