Epic Games Unveils Ambitious Plans for Unreal Editor for Fortnite at GDC 2024

Epic Games is celebrating nearly a year since the launch of Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), with impressive numbers to show for it. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Saxs Persson, VP of the Fortnite ecosystem, shared that UEFN has attracted around 15,000 creators who have published approximately 80,000 'islands', with 130 million players engaging with this content and earning creators $320 million in payouts to date. Persson attributes this success to Epic's simple yet effective approach: providing creators with powerful tools and a straightforward economy. The company has seen a significant increase in new island publications, from 50 per day at launch to around 600 currently. Epic has announced several new features, including the integration of MetaHuman Creator and Animator, support for cloth creation tools, and a roadmap of upcoming features. Additionally, the company is introducing a first-person camera view, Fall Guys assets, and Rocket Racing track design tools. Persson is particularly excited about the extension of UEFN to Lego Fortnite, allowing players to publish their own games within the Lego brand. He highlights the potential of Lego Fortnite's fully networked physics, which will enable creators to build more complex and interactive experiences. To ensure high-quality content, Epic employs pre-moderation for all islands, with an average approval time of two hours. The company is committed to maintaining its content standards and has no plans to compromise on these in pursuit of growth. Epic is also dedicated to using UEFN exclusively for creating new Fortnite Battle Royale content starting in late 2025, demonstrating its confidence in the platform's capabilities.