Epic Games announced a new system for paying creators in Fortnite, the ultra-popular free-to-download battle royale game.
Announced Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference, Epic will now share 40% of Fortnite revenue with anyone who designs “islands” in the game. This includes money Epic earns from purchasing V-Bucks (in-game currency), real money spent in Fortnite on items like starter packs, mission packs and cosmetics, and Fortnite Crew subscriptions.
On their personal island, creators can develop their own unique in-game experiences with custom rulesets and layouts. A creator’s payout is determined by the popularity of the island and how many users keep coming back to the island.
According to Epic’s writing, companies can also get paid in this program, which means that, as with Roblox, professional game developers can also publish their own content on Fortnite and get paid. However, the language does not make it clear whether Epic itself is eligible to recoup a portion of the 40% allotted, which would make the actual sum much smaller for third-party creators.
already, about half game time in Fortnite it takes place in user-created content, but these third-party maps are about to get a massive update. Epic announced today that Fortnite is getting a Unreal Engine Publisher, which is now available in public beta. At least from the demo videos, it looks like it’s going to be a game changer (literally):
With the new editor, it makes sense for Epic to change their crafting system. Fortnite’s existing creator program offered relatively paltry incentives for aspiring hobbyist game designers. The creators had a personal code, and if fans entered their code when purchasing an item in the Fortnite store, they got 5% of the revenue. To join the new program, which Epic calls “Creator Economy 2.0,” users can sign up for the new Fortnite. creator portal. Any creator who joins before April 21 will receive retroactive pay for any participation on the island from March 1 onwards. To be eligible for payment, users must be 18 years of age or older and have an account that is at least 90 days old.
The 40% figure is an interesting choice. For years at this point, Epic has been embroiled in a lawsuit with Apple, alleging that the maker of the iOS App Store is anti-competitive, taking 30% of all in-app purchases. Epic originally sued Apple in 2020, when the company removed Fortnite from the App Store; Epic had implemented a new payment mechanism that allowed it to bypass Apple’s in-app purchase framework.
The initial verdict on the case was mixed, prompting both companies to appeal. A judge ruled that Apple was not a monopoly, but that the company could not prevent apps from directing customers to a different payment processor to get around the 30% cut. Epic appealed, pushing for Apple to support third-party payments. Apple also appealed, seeking to shut down these solutions and keep payments flowing through its own channels.
Comparing Apple’s app market to Epic’s in-game creator earnings isn’t exactly straightforward, given the nuances of Fortnite’s new payment model. Epic argues that app developers have no choice but to host their apps on the Google and Apple stores, but Fortnite is just one ecosystem of many where developers can earn a revenue stream. Depending on how the details play out, and what light they shed on the company, we may see bits and pieces of Epic’s new creator payments program sprout in the ongoing appeals process between the two companies.
