Epic Games Moves to Block Creator From Trademarking 'Edit Pump Wars'

Epic Games has taken legal action to prevent creator studio Hive Studios from trademarking the name of its popular Fortnite game, “Edit Pump Wars.” Filed on July 14 by Epic’s lawyers, the legal challenge opposes Hive’s trademark application, which was originally filed in August 2024. The move stems from Epic’s position that platform creators should not use trademarks to assert control over popular game genres, aiming to prevent any single developer from dominating a category through trademark acquisition.

According to Epic’s filing, the phrase “Edit Pump Wars” functions as a common term used by the public and the Fortnite ecosystem to describe games involving pump-action shotguns and the mechanics to edit opponent-built objects. Data pointed out in the filing showed that by July 2026, the Fortnite platform featured at least 37 islands published by various creators using the title, along with an additional 13 islands featuring the phrase as the main part of their game names. Epic argued in its filing that the terminology is utilized by dozens of different creators to describe a genre, making Hive’s application insufficiently exclusive.

Hive Studios published the first iteration of its version on May 22, 2020, positioning it as an early or first version on the platform, and later achieved a maximum concurrent player count of 6,847 in June 2023. Hive updated its island description in April 2024 to claim it was the “original Edit Pump Wars” and added a trademark symbol in December 2024. Following Epic’s recent filing, however, Hive removed both the claim of originality and the trademark symbol from its description. A representative for Hive did not respond to requests for comment.

Jesse Saivar, an intellectual property lawyer at Greenberg Glusker, noted that the dispute centers entirely around the name rather than in-game mechanics, with Epic asserting the phrase merely describes a game type. Hive’s formal response to the opposition filing is scheduled to be due on September 12. While the studio has not yet officially responded, the removal of the trademark symbol suggests the challenge is being taken seriously, though a direct settlement between Hive and Epic remains a possibility given Hive’s prominent status within the ecosystem.