Epic is going to release the Unreal Editor for Fortnite in an attempt to out-Roblox Roblox
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has revealed that Epic will, later this year, release the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. «The full capabilities that you’ve seen [in Unreal Engine] opened up so that anybody can build very high-quality game content and code and deploy it into Fortnite without having to do a deal with us,» Sweeney says in a new interview with FastCompany. «It’s open to everybody.»
What exactly this means can probably best be summarised as Roblox-ifying the Fortnite creator ecosystem. Sweeney is a big fan of how Roblox operates and, despite it having a lower media profile than Fortnite, it is one of the only real 'metaverse' contenders out there—and its appeal lies almost entirely in user-created content.
«Our aim is to make it a first-class outlet for reaching the consumers, just like you might look at the mobile app stores and consoles and Steam as ways to reach users. Now people are also looking at Fortnite, and at Roblox, as ways of reaching users. Along with that, we’re building an economy, and it will support creators actually building businesses around their work and making increasing amounts of profit from the commerce that arises from people playing their content.»
Whether Fortnite will take a different approach to renumerating creators is the interesting part. Sweeney's absolutely outspoken about gatekeepers creaming off large fees, and has certainly put his money where his mouth is (Epic is engaged in various actions against tech giants, all involving antitrust issues about distribution channels). The big criticism of Roblox that really sticks is that it financially exploits creators by keeping a huge chunk of the profits from their work. So a low commission, or even no commission at all, looks like an
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