Did Riot Steal the Idea for Deadeye and KAY/0 from Fortnite?

Valorant Deadeye and Fortnite Midas
Did Riot copy Epic? | ©Epic Games/Riot Games

Valorant's two latest agents, KAY/0 and the recently teased Deadeye share a shockingly similar appearance to two Fortnite Characters that were previously created by Epic Games before Valorant's latest agent reveal. KAY/0 looks very similar to that of The Foundation and Deadeye looks incredibly similar to that of Midas.

These similarities between the Fortnite characters and Valorant agents were pointed out by popular Fortnite Data Miner and Leaker Hypex. In the tweet, it shows a side by side of both KAY/0 & Deadeye with that of The Foundation & Midas.

It should be noted that both Fortnite characters were created well before Valorant was even a game so the blame falls directly onto Riot Games. Hypex is indeed correct in saying that someone on the Valorant dev team must have played a lot of Fortnite as the influence is pretty clear.

Even the buttons on both Midas’ and Deadeye’s shirt are the same!

Deadeye really, really, looks like Midas, or at least they go to the same tailor and hair salon. It should be noted that the current Deadeye art is a teaser and the final version of Deadeye might change either due to the clear similarities between Deadeye and Midas or Riot Games is still finalizing this new agent’s concept.

Deadeye was recently spoiled in the 1-year Anthem promoted by Riot on Valorant’s main Twitter page.

As for KAY/0 and The Foundation, this seems more like a happy coincident than a blatant attempt to rip off another company’s character. However, you cannot deny the heads of each robot/cyborg look pretty dang similar.

Let’s see if this goes anywhere else and if it picks up enough traction to create some kind of drama between these two titans of the gaming industry. But for fans, look forward to playing as a Midas-themed agent in your next Valorant match!

When Will Deadeye Release in Valorant?

We don't exactly know when Deadeye will be released in Valorant, but we assume that, like KAY/0, Deadeye will also be released in Episode 3 of Valorant.

Swing by the Fortnite News section and keep tabs on Epic Games! Or if you are a Riot fan then why not check out our Valorant News too!

Paul Hayes

I did my BA in English Lit. and Language Studies at Western University in Canada and I use to play MTG competitively, but sadly to no success so I write instead! If a game doesn't challenge me, it's not the...