Fortnite Season 8: Ninja criticises Epic Games for copying rivals Apex Legends

'What do you do when Sea of Thieves and Apex become super popular but also, Fortnite is still popular?' the streamer said. 'You take the best of both worlds'

Fortnite superstar Ninja has poked fun at the hugely popular video game for appearing to copy battle royale rival Apex Legends.

The world’s most popular streamer, who made close to $10 million (£7.9m) last year playing 4,000 hours of Fortnite, pointed out similarities between the two games following the release of Season 8 of Fortnite this week.

The new update brought with it a host of new challenges, themes and features, with one of the most lauded upgrades being an improved way of communicating between players using a pinging system.

Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, was quick to point out that this new functionality is similar to that found in Apex Legends.

The new pirate theme of Fortnite Season 8 also appears to be a not-so-subtle nod to the action-adventure video game Sea of Thieves.

Speaking to viewers of his Twitch stream on the day of Fortnite Season 8’s release, Ninja compared Fortnite’s newly improved World Marker system to the Ping system used in Apex Legends.

Both systems allow players to mark items on the map so other players can be alerted to the location of nearby enemies or weapons.

“What do you do when Sea of Thieves and Apex become super popular but also, Fortnite is still popular, what do you do? You take the best of both worlds.” Ninja said.

“Update your pinging system from Apex and then you add pirates from Sea of Thieves! That’s what you do.”

Twitch streamer and professional gamer Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has been switching between Fortnite and Apex Legends in recent weeks (Getty Images)

This isn’t the first time that Fortnite developer Epic Games has been accused of copying content, with several celebrities accusing the game’s maker of stealing dance moves for use in the game.

One lawsuit by the rapper 2 Milly claims a viral dance move that he created was used in the game without his consent.

Lawyers for Epic Games are currently seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that “no one can own a dance step.”