Epic Games has launched several promotional efforts to support Fortnite Creative developers, but some creators are frustrated by the inscrutable rules that govern those campaigns. Epic’s ads for Fortnite islands often bring in thousands of new players — and there are plenty of creators who want a piece of that action.
According to Digiday, Epic Games began promoting third-party Fortnite “islands” over the summer. Games like Lumberjack Heroes have been featured in PlayStation ads, TikTokers have done branded content for titles like Mercenaries, and Epic Games has used the official Fortnite YouTube channel to shout-out experiences like Havoc Hotel.
Epic Games’ methods for promoting on-platform titles have been varied, but there have been a few consistent elements within those campaigns. For starters, Epic’s ads have attracted thousands of new players to the islands that receive promotional boosts. The types of experiences that are highlighted also share something in common: They’re all departures from the “battle royale” category. Example of that genre include the main Fortnite game and many fan-created islands.
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Those two commonalities might be linked. It could be that new players are flocking to the promoted islands because those experiences differ from typical Fortnite content. If battle royales aren’t your thing, maybe a lumberjack RPG can convince you to enter the world of Fortnite.
As sound as that logic may be, some creators are eager to learn how their islands can earn official Epic Games promotion. “We have to focus on what we know is the less-risky bet — games that we know work on the platform — which is no good for them and no good for us, from a creativity standpoint,” Margot Rodde, the founder of Fortnite creator studio Creators Corp, told Digiday. “We’ll always covet the medium hit rather than the big hit, because the big hit will come from something completely new, but the risk of doing that is so high that we can’t go for it. We would be able to do it if there was some transparency about what they’re willing to support, and a fair application process.”
An Epic Games spokesperson told Digiday that the company intentionally makes submission guidelines open-ended for its promotions. The goal is to support “innovative” islands that “incorporate distinct game design.” The issue is that tried-and-true Fortnite formats are more likely to attract players, so for developers like Rodde, island creation turns into a choice between attracting players and earning promotion.
In a sense, that dilemma is reminiscent of the early days of YouTube, when creators searched for the secret sauce that could earn them coveted real estate on the YouTube home page. YouTube eventually moved away from those types of promotions, and Epic Games might have to as well. Support for unorthodox experiences is nice, but with hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through the Fortnite ecosystem and many brands showing interest in the platform, creator calls for a more consistent system are justified.
If Epic Games wants to keep its campaigns running as-is, it could always develop a feature that resembles the Trial Reels that recently arrived on Instagram. Developers are afraid to work on projects that might miss players entirely, so if there were a way for Epic to mitigate some of that risk, creators would have a much easier time working within Fortnite‘s promotional guidelines.
