Fortnite: (A+) for the creator economy

Hi all, hope you are all well! A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Roblox, all the incredible insights that it provides about our future. Recently, I picked up and played Fortnite again, I was positively surprised with what I found. It seems like Epic Games has taken user-generated content to the next level

A bit of backstory

Most of you won't know this, but Fortnite is my most played game ever, during the first lockdown I was putting in shifts like an employed worker! But at one point in 2020 I stopped played the game much and have not paid much attention to it. However, they brought back all of the original guns and map, which made me jump back in.
Well, not only me, according to reports, Fortnite player count eclipsed 44.7 million for the OG season launch.

When I stopped playing the game, one of the modes that was picking up traction was Creative Mode, where players could build their own 'islands'. Gamers were being creative, building successful parkour maps, challenges, 2v2 duals, etc.

Loading up the game for the first time in ages, I was surprised with what I saw, an UI showing me thousands upon thousands of user-generated maps, ranging from the classic parkour maps all the way to roleplaying servers, it was clear that Creative Mode had evolved.

Fortnite, not the battle royale game. The social gaming platform.

Due to the huge success of user-generated environments in games, which I wote about on MV #05 (read here), it was inevitable that Creative Mode would become hugely popular on Fortnite.

The game has always had a 'Support-A-Creator code', a system where content creators, this means Youtubers, Streamers, Pro Players, Creative Mode Creators, were able to share their code, where every time a user made an in-game purchase with it (in-game skins, battle pass), they would receive a percentage.

But, if Fortnite really wanted to encourage mass deployment of content in their platform, they would need to create a more modern system, in line with other content websites such as Youtube.
Knowing this, Epic Games developed an updated system to reward it's creators. Using a 40% share of the net revenue from Fortnite’s Item Shop and most real-money Fortnite purchases.
According to them, 'payouts are based on engagement metrics that contribute to the health of the overall Fortnite ecosystem'.

Quite a few creators will be paid big money! According to their predictions made looking at current statics, payout levels would be similar to the below:
$100 - 2,167 players
$1,000 - 1,216 players
$10,000 - 578 players
$100,000 - 220 players
$300,000 - 106 players
$1,000,000 - 43 players
$3,000,000 - 13 players
$10,000,000 - 5 players

UEFN

Creative Mode has always been fairly simple, you load up the game, and build your world with pre-made assets and functionalities that are available to you.
Epic Games realized that players want to have the freedom to run wild! Which is why they released the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. The platform is based upon the Unreal Editor, which has been used by developers across the world to build their own games.
However, this version was created specifically to accommodate for Fortnite Creative Mode. On top of all the features that existed in the in-game editor, there are incredible features such custom asset upload and scripting. Theoretically, this will allow players to deploy full-on games inside Fortnite Creative Mode, making it available to a player base of Millions.

A tool for brand marketing

It is no surprise that brands are trying new ways to reach the next generation of users, we can see this by their enormous spent on social media platforms, TikTok ad revenue is expected to reach $13.79 billion per year by 2026, this does not even include direct deals with 'influencers'.
MV #06 expands on this topic (read here)

Epic Games has used Fortnite to collaborate with tonnes of brands such as Marvel, DC, Star Wars, NFL, + literally 68 other brands.

However, recently they announced something quite unique and innovate. A collaboration with Lego, where they have released a new Game Mode called Fortnite Lego. It pretty much is a Minecraft copy, but nevertheless it is an excellent way for Lego to connect with customers that probably prefer to game than build their toys (even though they are awesome).

The new unleashed creative potential will no doubt create a new Market for brands to build exclusive experiences, as they are already doing on Roblox. Instead of having to go to Epic Games, they may simply go to an Agency and ask them to build a gamified experience relevant to their brand to be deployed on Fortnite.

The importance of a strong creator economy

As mentioned previously, user-generated content is dominating the marketplace, especially with the new generation of users..
We are constantly being fed content. TikTok, Youtube Shorts and X for the younger generation, and even LinkedIn (none is safe) for the older generation.
I believe that the competitive war between all platforms, is who will be able to amass the most amount of content. Don't get me wrong, it is not all good content, most of it is actually BS. But, people watch it. Which means that there is a whole lot of green bills to be made.

See you next week,
Davi, MetaVisions