Epic Games as a company has never been one to fear change. It's succeeded in shareware PC titles, arena shooters, triple-A console shooters, and mobile titles, and it's making another leap with the free-to-play Fortnite. Epic revealed the game at the 2011 VGAs, but little has been known about it outside of a basic fort-building theme. In the May issue of Game Informer, we offer the first extensive look at the ambitious new project.

Fortnite features the cooperative third-person shooter core Epic Games is known for, but rather than throwing you into scripted events and corridors, the game challenges you to explore the environment for resources and build fortresses while fending off waves of attackers at the same time. With an RPG-like progression system, Diablo-like looting, multiple campaigns of varying lengths, procedurally generated worlds, and the promise of player vs. player battles, Epic is offering plenty of replayability that it hopes will provide the game with a long lifecycle. You can check out our coverage trailer below or watch and share the video on YouTube.

The issue features 20 pages of coverage dedicated to Fortnite and Epic Games, including tons of exclusive screenshots and an examination of how the studio has evolved with the departure of key figures like Cliff Blezinski, Mike Capps, and Rod Fergusson.

The rest of the issue is also packed with must-read features. We also conducted an interview with Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey after the much-publicized buyout from Facebook. Former LucasArts partners share details about the cancelled Darth Maul game that was in development at Red Fly Studio (this is a follow-up piece to our look at the downfall of LucasArts). We also sit down with PlayStation icons Ken Kutaragi, Andrew House, and Mark Cerny to discuss the platform's past, present, and future.

In addition to our cover story and features, the issue contains previews of Watch Dogs, Mario Kart 8, and The Crew. Reviewed in the May issue are South Park, Titanfall, Dark Souls II, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and Infamous: Second Son.

Print subscribers should see their issues arriving in the coming days. If you subscribe digitally, your May issue is available now on PC/Mac, iPad, Android, and Google Play. You can also get the latest issue through third-party apps on Nook, Kindle, and Zinio starting tomorrow. To switch your print subscription to digital, click here, or to create a new subscription to the digital edition, click here. Click on the banner below to visit the hub and keep track of our month of exclusive Fortnite coverage.

You can also follow our Fortnite updates and other stories by following Game Informer on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.

Interested in a chance to get your own hands-on time with the game? Sign up for Fortnite's alpha testing at Epic's official website.