epic games

• Epic Games has now paid over $1 billion to the creators of Fortnite’s “Islands”
• Fortnite’s new developer-made item sales: Loot boxes yes, outfits and emotes no

  Starting today, Fortnite developers (who have been able to make custom Islands/game modes on Fortnite's platform since 2018) will be able to make and sell their own in-game items to its tens of millions of players.

  
• No bots here: Epic sues two game developers after paying them “tens of thousands of dollars” for alleged fake engagement

  Epic says the developers, Michigan-based Idris Nahdi and Ayob Nasser, created over 20,000 fake bot accounts and sent them off to each other's Islands, artificially inflating the Islands' engagement. Between them, they had 10 active Islands, and the bots were not deployed to any other Islands--just each other's.

  
• Creator-made islands accounted for 1/3 of ‘Fortnite’ game time in 2024–and earned their developers $352 million

  According to Epic Games' first-ever Fortnite Ecosystem Year in Review, it paid out $352 million to creators in 2024. Those creators--around 70,000 of them, tripled from the 24,000 Epic says it paid in 2023--made a total of 198,000 "islands" within the game that often contain fully customized settings, minigames, plotlines, and more.

  
• ‘Fortnite’ creators want to know the rubric Epic Games uses for its promotions
• Epic wants people to make more games. It’s creating–and owning–the marketplace.
• Epic Games paid $320 million to creators over 12 months. These ‘Fortnite’ developers were top earners.
• Disney takes $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games to build an “entertainment universe”
• Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: MrBeast balances self-promotion with philanthropy
• As Epic Games builds its ‘Fortnite’ creator program, it’s laying off around 830 employees
• Khaby Lame drops into ‘Fortnite’ with his own custom avatar
• Disguised Toast is asking a big question: “Is it actually possible for esports to be profitable?”