‘Fortnite’ sets aside 40 per cent of Item Shop revenue to pay creators

Epic Games has announced Creator Economy 2.0, which will increase the amount of money that Fortnite creators can make by creating in-game islands.

At the Game Developers Conference yesterday (March 22), Epic Games announced the launch of its Unreal Editor beta in Fortnite. The Unreal Editor allows players to create new projects in Epic’s Unreal Engine and publish it directly to Fortnite, which the studio says will offer “a whole world of new creative options” for fans and developers.

For those who take part in Fortnite‘s user-created islands, Epic has also revealed Creator Economy 2.0 — which is live in Fortnite now, and offers fans more ways to earn money from their creations.

Going forward, Epic shared that 40 per cent of revenue from Fortnite‘s Item Shop and “most” real-money purchases – including V-Bucks, Fortnite Crew subscriptions and packs -will be set aside and paid to eligible creators.

Payments will be proportionate to how popular each creator’s island is with players and will be judged based on how many new or returning players an island attracts.

The studio added that legal entities and creators over the age of 18 are eligible for payouts, but added that it is “working to expand” the programme to include younger creators.

Creators can sign up for Epic’s payout system here.

Describing the new system, Fortnite ecosystem executive vice president Saxs Persson said the new approach “rewards everyone’s creative work, both yours and Epic’s”.

“There’s no need to design cunning monetization loops or extractive gating items,” Persson added. “You make an island the players love — that is all you need to be part of the new economy.”

Last week, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalised an order for Epic Games to pay a £201million fine, following allegations that the company was tricking players into making unwanted purchases.