Image: Epic Games
Fortnite’s creative head is retiring after years of overseeing its lore and seasonal content.
Epic Games’ chief creative officer Donald Mustard has announced his retirement, following almost 25 years of working in the games industry. Mustard is best known for acting as the face of Fortnite’s battle royale mode, steering its narrative into multiversal crossovers and overseeing seasonal content.
Mustard has been with Epic Games since his game development company Chair Entertainment was acquired by Epic Games in 2008. He first worked on Bloodrayne which launched in 2002, and went on to work on more games with Epic like Shadow Complex and the classic Infinity Blade games for mobile platforms. He became Epic’s chief creative officer in 2016, before launching Fortnite’s battle royale mode as a free-to-play title in 2017.
In his retirement announcement, Mustard said on X (formerly known as Twitter):
I have enjoyed nearly 25 years in the game industry collaborating with some of the most talented people ever and I am so proud of what we have made together. From the ambitious Advent Rising, to the start of ChAIR where we created Undertow, Shadow Complex, and the Infinity Blade trilogy, to the honor of our tiny team becoming part of Epic, each new chapter allowed me to accomplish something new and original. I am especially proud of the opportunity I’ve had to help create and shape Fortnite.
Speaking about his work on Fortnite, Mustard said: “We love watching you experience every moment - leaping from the Battle Bus for the very first time, seeing the rocket crack open the sky, dancing with friends after a Victory Royale, being sucked into a black hole or being washed out to sea as The Island flipped over - and on and on! I can’t wait to now share in the future of Fortnite as a player alongside all of you! The teams are in the best hands and they are working on huge, jaw dropping, amazing things!”
To call Mustard’s time with Epic Games a success would be an understatement. Fortnite took off and become a phenomenon in 2017, showing no signs of slowing down in growth for many years to come. Even today, as the game lags behind in popularity next to new games like VALORANT, the battle royale mode consistently adds chunky seasonal updates that feature the most unlikely crossover characters in existence - from the Xenomorph in Alien to Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars.
Mustard oversaw Fortnite at its highest peak, and will leave Epic as it continues to chug along successfully. Mustard said that he was, “excited to spend time with my wife and family,” now that he’s in retirement.