Epic Games, the legendary studio behind Unreal Tournament and Paragon announced today that its co-op survival game Fortnite will finally enter early access beginning July 25, 2017. Alongside the early access announcement we also received a detailed breakdown of the founders packs being offered and a new trailer, which can be seen below.

Fortnite was first announced by Epic Games in 2011 followed by an announcement in 2014 that the game would be a free-to-play title when it officially launched. Since the game's announcement it has undergone a long development cycle finally making it into a closed alpha state at the end of 2014. Fast forward 3 years and we are finally nearing early access for Fortnite.

The game will enter a paid early access period starting on July 25, allowing players to enter the early access period by purchasing one of the game's Founder's Packs, with the final build of Fortnite currently scheduled to release in 2018 as a free-to-play title.

Additionally, four different Founder's Packs were also announced today ranging from $39.99-$149.99. All of the Founder's Packs will grant early access to the game, exclusive Founders loot pinata packs, daily loot pinata packs and exclusive in game banner icons. A more detailed breakdown of the Founder's Pack can be seen on the official Fortnite website.

For those who haven't heard of Fortnite, the game is a co-op survival game that allows players to build defensive structures, explore large environments, craft weapons, loot materials and fight their way to victory through hordes of enemies. Almost anything in the game can be harvested for loot and materials, which can be used to craft structures and various weapons. The game will feature four different core classes including Outlander, Soldier, Ninja and Constructor. Among these core classes, there are specialized hero cards that allow for a more customized playing experience when using one of the classes.

Players who love looking for loot will find the looting system in Fortnite to be quite pleasant as it features a Diablo style RPG system. There is an assortment of weapons offered in Fortnite such as rocket launchers, shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles and more. Players can also recruit Defenders; special NPP's that will fight alongside you in combat.

Did you participate in any of the game's online tests? Well if you did,  as a special "Thank You", Epic Games will be rewarding those with a few extra goodies and an exclusive discount on any of the game's Founder's Packs.

Fortnite will enter early access on July 25 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One with a full release planned for sometime in 2018.