A current annual assessment from Epic Video games reported robust development in Fortnite’s creator program. The variety of customers constructing customized content material within the massively profitable battle royale recreation practically tripled year-over-year, and the variety of distinctive creations doubled. Though Roblox continues to be far bigger, some imagine Fortnite may change into the YouTube of gaming.
In accordance with Epic, 2024 noticed round 70,000 Fortnite customers create situations in Unreal Editor for Fortnite, a user-generated content material platform that comes with a few of Unreal Engine 5’s superior instruments. The determine is a considerable enhance from the 24,000 reported in 2023. The variety of “islands,” or Fortnite person creations, totaled 198,000 final yr. Most have been constructed utilizing the Unreal Editor, exposing 1000’s to a possible gateway into correct Unreal Engine improvement.
Moreover, round 70 % of Fortnite gamers explored user-generated content material. Custome situations account for over one-third of the time customers spend taking part in Fortnite, suggesting that the person base not views it as completely a battle royale recreation.
Analyst Julia Alexander in contrast the expansion of Fortnite creations to YouTube’s creator economic system. Each platforms purpose to maximise customers’ time spent on them by paying creators to make unique content material. Epic paid $352 million to Fortnite creators in 2024, up 11 % year-over-year.
One essential distinction Alexander observes between Fortnite and YouTube is the previous’s relative lack of content material that considerably deviates from Fortnite’s customary gameplay. YouTube has advanced to supply movies on virtually any topic possible, however Epic’s report additionally highlights more and more various Fortnite creations.
About 30 % of playtime in Fortnite’s user-generated content material this month was spent on genres with out fight, corresponding to horror, social roleplay, or social gathering video games – a big enhance from January 2024. Epic additionally cited particular creations incorporating RPG and simulation administration parts. These have been possible doable because of creator instruments Epic launched final yr, corresponding to a first-person digicam, proximity chat, person interface controls, and customized NPCs.
Nonetheless, Bloomberg stories that Fortnite nonetheless lags behind Roblox, which paid creators $741 million in 2023 and grew its participant base by 24 % final yr in comparison with Fortnite’s 15 %. Analysts advised the outlet that Fortnite’s hottest customized modes come from Epic, whereas Roblox is designed solely round user-made experiences.
Epic as soon as acknowledged that it needs Fortnite and Unreal to change into akin to a Metaverse. Whereas that phrase has much less buzz than it used to, a contest to construct one thing prefer it has emerged between Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft. Even Meta hasn’t given up. In its newest earnings report, Meta misplaced one other $5 billion in VR Metaverse R&D final yr, displaying it hasn’t deserted Zuck’s Metaverse ambitions.
