Fortnite’s new limited time mode is basically Among Us

Fortnite has been infiltrated by spies, and it’s up to you and your crew mates to discover their hidden identities before they can pick players off one by one. If that sounds familiar, that’s probably because it’s the exact same premise as Among Us, a game that found breakout success in 2020. But it’s now also the foundation of Fortnite’s new limited time mode called The Spy Within.

The Spy Within starts with 10 players, who are divided into eight Agents and two Spies. Each player only knows their own role when the match starts. Throughout the match, Agents will work to complete tasks that earn them gold coins. If the Agents earn enough gold coins, or identify all the spies, they win. The Spies, on the other hand, will work to secretly eliminate each Agent without revealing their identities. Whenever Agents see anything suspicious they can call a meeting. During meetings everyone in the game can voice chat with each other to determine which player to vote out.

The Spy Within certainly has some interesting timing. Hidden identity games have always been popular both in real life and in games. (Remember Kane and Lynch 2’s multiplayer?) But it’s hard to ignore the fact that over the last few months Among Us has grown to be one of the biggest and most important games in the world, and Fortnite’s new mode has more than a few things in common with it.

The limited time playlist will change every few days to feature a new Spy Within game variant created by few community members — DolphinDom, KKSlider, Bunni_, Wert, Blanky, jstKamui, MackJack, Ritual and Snownymous — who Epic highlights in its own post about the mode. The mode won’t stick around forever, but while it’s here players can earn special cosmetic rewards, including a festive holiday weapon wrap, a glider, and a spy-themed skateboard.