LEGO Fortnite Interview: Turning the Game into Building Sets
We chat with Frédéric Roland Andre, a senior design manager at LEGO who worked on bringing the video game Fortnite into the real world through LEGO sets.
First LEGO came to Fortnite as a game-within-a-game that lets you build your own worlds, Minecraft-style. Now Fortnite has come to LEGO. The block-building company recently released four sets based on the mega-popular online video game. We've already built the LEGO Fortnite Battle Bus and loved the end result. So we caught up with Frédéric Roland Andre, a senior design manager at LEGO who worked on the Fortnite LEGO sets, to chat about designing sets based on a game, and the future of the partnership.
All four of the new Fortnite LEGO sets are available exclusively at the LEGO Store. Read below for the full interview. How did you get started designing sets at the LEGO Group? Frédéric Roland Andre, Senior Design Manager at LEGO: I have played with LEGO bricks for as long as I can remember but never realized it was an actual job. In fact, I studied something completely different as a degree: Japanese. However, my love of LEGO building stayed with me and I was what we proudly call an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO). One day, on a LEGO fan community forum, I found out the LEGO Group was recruiting, and I sent an application with pictures of the spaceships I had made. That was in August 2010, and I started as a LEGO Designer in October 2010. What other sets have you worked on before Fortnite? Andre: I have worked in the LEGO Group for 14 years, so quite a few LEGO sets. As a designer I have worked on LEGO Star Wars, Galaxy Squad, Nexo Knights, Ultra Agents, Ninjago, and more. Were you a Fortnite fan before taking on the job of designing these sets? Andre: I knew about the franchise, but never got deep into it. I’ve always admired the high-pace game play and mix of all those different IP in a quite coherent way. Since I have joined the project, my son and I have become professionals at LEGO Fortnite! How did you pick these four Fortnite sets to make? Andre: We wanted something very iconic for people to recognize instantly from LEGO Fortnite. We know that Peely is very popular with the LEGO Fortnite community, so we chose to make a big version, specifically Peely Bone. The Supply Llama is also an iconic character in the LEGO Fortnite game, as is the Durrr Burger. Finally, we chose the Battle Bus as we knew it was going to make an appearance in the LEGO Fortnite game (it was added in August); plus, it presents a brilliant play or display design for fans. Which Fortnite set is your favorite and why? Andre: I really like the Supply Llama. It is so iconic and so goofy. It is also a nice short build to enjoy. And despite being a nice piece to expose at your desk, it has a storage function, dropping loot all over the place! I noticed the Fortnite sets have various age suggestions on them (10+, 18+). What goes into deciding which ages a set is appropriate for? Andre: The age marking is decided according to the build complexity. Peely Bone is 18+ because we wanted it to be as highly detailed as possible and because its geometry is quite challenging (but don’t worry — the building instructions are great!). On the other hand, we wanted the Battle Bus to be a true toy that kids could play fully with. Can we expect more LEGO Fortnite sets in the future? Andre: I can’t say much, but watch this space!
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