Fortnite Live

Originally from Crappy Games Wiki

Fortnite Live was an unlicensed event “based” on Fortnite held by a British event company called Exciting Events Ltd. in Norwich on February 16-17 2019.

The Event

The event itself was criticised by attendees for its low quality, poor planning and being an obvious cash-grab to children. According to the owner of Exciting Events, the company weren't expecting every ticket holder to arrive at the same time, which ended up causing long queues and understandable frustration. The Tickets were £12, while the attractions were part of a £20 wristband.

The activities themselves were generic ones, like archery, caving, a rock wall, go-karting and a bouncy castle. You could even pay money to play Fortnite Battle Royale, as well as to bring your own console and play the game. There was even a “Cave Experience” which was really a truck with a tarpaulin on it and a gray slide on the back.

Even then, there were queues everywhere, as mentioned above. The only things that were even related to Fortnite at the event being used was the logo and character likenesses, which were used without any permission from Epic Games. There was also a merchandise store, which had t-shirts referencing illegal drugs like cocaine, which was inappropriate for a kid-focused festival.

Reception and Lawsuit

The event was panned by attendees for being a cash grab for children and cashing in on a trending topic. It was even compared to the infamous failure that was the Fyre Festival. One angry parent compared it to the Father Ted episode where the fair comes to Craggy Island ("Good Luck, Father Ted).

Exciting Events responded by saying they would hand out refunds to some of the people who attended, and that they would make the following year’s event “Bigger and Better”.

On February 18, 2019, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Exciting Events Limited for unauthorized usage of the Fortnite IP being used in the event, it led to Exciting Events filing for liquidation a day later and ceasing all operations, cancelling 2 other Fortnite Live events.

Trivia

• A more infamous instance of this would occur in February 2024, titled Willy's Chocolate Experience, which shared similar consequences to this event.