Some say that in space, no one can hear you scream, but in the cold steel corridors of a derelict Star Destroyer, the sounds of terror echo back just fine to your fellow Rebels. 

Even here in the vacuum of space, the evil Galactic Empire chokes freedom in its iron fist, but a quartet of brave Rebels are on a desperate search for some sort of advantage, on the trail of rumors, whispers, and dismissals. And I am one of them. 

We’re traveling through the Outer Rim—the sparsely populated edge of the civilized galaxy—when we stumble upon good news: a Star Destroyer listing in space. We speed into action, knowing that we need to infiltrate the wreck, find Power Cells, seize the relic, and stay alive. But the mission gets progressively more difficult. Infiltration is easy, and we’re onboard in moments. We’ve got our scanners to help us find the Power Cells. But can we stay alive? That’s what this all hinges on. 

We’re in, my three friends and I, moving with a near-silent urgency. I can barely see in the twisting, mangled hallways. I know that stormtroopers are a potential problem, and I imagine them everywhere, but most couldn’t hit the broad side of a bantha. So, we creep, blasters at the ready, then we learn that a chilling new threat is onboard, hunting us, breathing heavily through a mechanical mask. He is the Sith Lord: Darth Vader. And we are his prey. 

But with galactic freedom on the line, I steel myself and activate my scanner. The nearest Power Cell isn’t far, and now I’m moving with purpose. I go forward: a left, a right, a creak, a showering of sparks. I stop and wait. I go down another turn, another hallway, and there’s a stormtrooper. I fire before he can react, and he’s down in a few shots. 

We’re making progress—I know that, but my pounding heart keeps me in full alert mode. I tell myself that the walls only feel like they’re closing in, that I didn’t really hear a respirator. I release the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

I check my scanner again. We’re closing in on one of the Power Cells. It must be in the next hallway. Surely no farther than the one after that. I go slow. I peek deliberately. I turn a corner, enter a room and scan for exits. I turn to my left, and my heart drops.

It’s one thing to know that Vader’s here, somewhere. It’s an entirely different thing to see him towering over you, red lightsaber ablaze. 

What follows is a confrontation. He easily deflects the few shots I fire, and I have just enough time to wonder what I thought that would accomplish before he goes all Darth Vader on me. I’m down faster than I can process what happened. But I’m still alive. I’m reduced to crawling, praying that one of my buddies revives me. 

This is Star Wars Escape Vader (island code 7285-4185-5428), where you’re always a Rebel and Darth Vader is always hunting you. Thanks to the developers at Beyond Creative, it’s a dark, unfailingly tense island that arrived in Fortnite on May 1, 2026. 

We spoke with Kasper Weber, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Creative, as well as Mihai Marica, the producer who led development, about creating the game with the Star Wars Toolkit in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), their lifelong love of Star Wars, and the Rogue One scene that inspired the game. 

A long time ago … 

Escape Vader isn’t just the product of Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and Fortnite Creative. It’s the result of decades of video game and pop culture fandom. 

Kasper Weber has been making games since he was 10 and creating games in Fortnite for the better part of a decade. 

“I started playing Fortnite while I was in college. My friends mainly played Battle Royale, but I naturally gravitated toward Fortnite Creative,” Weber said, referring to the Epic Games tool that lets anyone design and publish games and experiences in Fortnite. 

“I’ve been a Fortnite Creative creator since its early-access release in December 2018. Within four weeks, I was already commissioning YouTube influencers to feature custom games I built for their videos. Four months later, I dropped out of college.”

In the early days, he was a solo creator, but since then, he’s made more than 50 games and co-founded Beyond Creative with Liam McMahon. 

Mihai Marica has been playing Fortnite since its earliest days, which led in part to a career in game development. 

“I have transitioned from AAA game development to support these unique and ambitious ideas come to life by pushing UEFN’s tools to the limit,” he said. 

Even before Fortnite inspired them to create games, Star Wars was an inspiration, too. 

“I grew up surrounded by Star Wars,” Weber said, “from bed sheets and pajamas to toys. Being Danish, LEGO Star Wars in particular had a huge impact on my childhood, both through physical sets and digital games. And when it wasn’t digital, I’d be out in the garden reenacting battles with my two younger brothers.”

Marica describes how many feel about Star Wars. 

“Like everyone else in our team,” he said, “I’ve grown up with Star Wars. It’s our shared language: movies first, alongside my dad, then games, then everything else. I’ve grown up admiring these iconic characters but also being genuinely intimidated by characters like Darth Vader. His time on-screen always created an unsettling atmosphere.”

With their shared love of Fortnite and Star Wars firmly ensconced, the news from earlier this year created an incredible opportunity for the studio. 

Star Wars x Fortnite 

Epic Games and Lucasfilm have been collaborating for years to bring the galaxy far, far away into Fortnite, and the possibilities became effectively endless earlier this year with the announcement of Star Wars assets and tools for Fortnite developers. Now, Fortnite creators can add iconic characters, locations, sound effects, vehicles, and more to their Fortnite islands. 

Escape Vader began with a question: What would a Star Wars horror game be like?

“It actually started with the fantasy, a very simple question we all shared growing up: What would it feel like to be chased by Vader?” Weber said. “Not fighting him, not watching him, but being on the other side of that presence.

“From there, the idea quickly became more specific. We asked ourselves: What if a Star Wars game was tense, even a bit scary? That’s not something you see often, especially with a character like Vader, who’s usually framed as powerful, but still ultimately vulnerable in one way or another.” 

That’s the fantasy that underlies Escape Vader, and you can feel the pressure in the first-person perspective every moment you play. You and a team of three Rebel friends explore the Star Destroyer’s dimly lit corridors and hallways so damaged that they tilt and jut at odd angles, searching for the missing Power Cells with your trusty Energy Scanner.

But you soon learn that you’re not alone: Vader is coming. 

“Playing Escape Vader is controlled chaos!” Weber said. “Our game is a co-op experience built around coordination and risk. You’re working together to complete objectives, but you are constantly exposed while doing so. Players have to cooperate and resist Vader’s omnipresence, as he forces you (no pun intended) to adapt constantly.”

In this horror-style Star Wars experience, Vader feels like an ‘80s horror mascot

“Vader became the constant,” Weber said, “the one thing players can’t control, can’t negotiate with, and can’t defeat. That naturally pushed the game toward a survival-horror experience. You’re not there to beat him. You’re there to navigate around him, complete your mission, and get out.” 

Balancing Vader

Star Wars’ influence is incalculable, and millions of fans know what to expect when Darth Vader is coming. According to Kasper Weber, getting that just right was one of the biggest challenges when they were creating the game.

“Balancing Vader was probably the hardest part,” he said. “On one hand, he has to feel ruthless and all-powerful, exactly as players expect. On the other, the game still has to be playable. If he’s too oppressive, players feel helpless. If he’s too predictable or too lenient, you lose the fear immediately.”

Weber said that the trick was to find the right balance and focus on teamwork. 

“We realized we had struck the right balance the moment playtests started to shift. Players would come in with a plan for how to escape him, but very quickly abandon it as he started to feel overwhelming. Despite that, through sacrifice and collaboration, players still managed to win and have fun.”

The team pulled inspiration from games like Dead by Daylight and The Outlast Trials, but the Sith Lord’s scene from Rogue One was the ultimate inspiration. 

Spoiler Warning: at the very end of the movie, Darth Vader appears and unleashes death and destruction, swinging his red lightsaber, tossing helpless Rebels into walls, chasing after the stolen Death Star plans. 

“Honestly, the biggest influence was always Vader himself. That corridor scene in Rogue One is hard to ignore—it came up in our discussions when Escape Vader was still just an idea on a whiteboard. It then never really left, almost like a design pillar for our game. It shows Vader at his most intense—that’s what we wanted to translate into gameplay.”

That scene sits at the core of Escape Vader: You’re slow, you’re exposed, you’re carrying heavy cargo, and evil is after you, potentially around any corner. You are absolutely no match for him. This is not so much a fighting game as it is a survival experience, Weber said. 

“Escape Vader is not about fighting Vader or not even resisting him—it’s about how long you can survive once he knows you’re there.” 

Even more Star Wars

Escape Vader is just one of the Star Wars islands that launched on May 1. 

There’s also Star Wars Galactic Siege (island code: 5003-9856-3648), from the developers at JOGO Studios, which pits two teams of 10 in large-scale battles across iconic franchise locations. Galactic Siege is more than a simple, team-based battle: Every character you play has a class, from tanks with heavy damage to healers and snipers, and even legendary characters like Rey, and you’ll have a lot of early fun switching between each class and finding the best fit for your playstyle. It’s fast-paced player-versus-player (PvP) combat as each faction battles to hold territory and gain an advantage. 

Star Wars Droid Tycoon (island code: 7865-8305-9184) sets you up on the sands of Tatooine, Anakin and Luke Skywalker’s home planet. As the tycoon in its name implies the developers at FOAD created a simulation experience where you essentially run a droid factory in the shadow of a sandcrawler. At first, when you’re resource-poor, you grind it out, swinging your melee weapon to reduce decommissioned droids to their component parts. Within a few minutes, you’re upgrading your plot of hardpan with machines that make you most of your money. And if you keep at it, soon you’ll be creating a factory full of iconic droids who happily make your money for you, funding your future collections. 

And those are just a few of the new Star Wars-themed experiences available now in Fortnite. Keep coming back to see what’s new and keep playing to earn free rewards. May the Force be with you on your journeys!