During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Epic Games has announced that Fortnite, the co-op sandbox survival game that made its debut at last year’s Video Game Awards, will be the first game to utilize the developer’s cutting edge Unreal Engine 4 technology.

The studio also revealed that the title is being designed exclusively for the PC, though design director Cliff Bleszinski later stated that he hasn’t ruled out a release on other platforms somewhere down the line. Given UE4′s hefty hardware requirements, any potential port would almost certainly be destined for next gen consoles.

The panel also provided the first details on Fortnite‘s gameplay, which centers on building defensive structures by day and fighting off hordes of zombies by night. Players will be able to scavenge anything they find in the game world to help construct their base on a 3×3 grid. They’ll also be able to use items to upgrade their weapons to add extra effects, such as explosives or electric shocks.

From the sound of things, the game will be a highly polished and much more focused version of indie smash hit Minecraft. It’s not exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from the people who brought us Gears of War, but it should be exciting to see what cutting edge technology and a AAA budget can do for the sandbox building genre.

Fortnite is currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2013.

As reported by: EGM