Epic Games is unlocking new earning potential for "Fortnite" creators. Instead of relying only on time spent in their custom "islands," developers will soon be able to design and sell in-game items directly, keeping a share of the V-Bucks players spend. This major update transforms "Fortnite's" creator economy, giving developers more control and greater rewards for their work.
Tools for Building and Selling Items
Epic intends to release new development tools in Unreal Editor for Fortnite, as well as a "Verse-based API" to craft both consumable and persistent in-game items.
As an added incentive, Epic said developers will retain 100% of the V-Bucks value from sales on their islands between December 2025 and the end of 2026. Once past that time, revenue will revert to a normal 50/50 split, GameIndustryBiz reports.
Revenue Splits and Real Value
Though 50% might be quite generous when compared with Apple's 30% App Store charge, Epic reasons its portion pays for server hosting, security, moderation, R&D, and other expenses involved in operating Fortnite. The real money creators get depends on how much value Epic assigns to V-Bucks.
From the company's perspective, 50% of V-Bucks value translates to about 37% of spend in retail, while 100% translates to about 74%.
This estimate includes real-money expenditures on V-Bucks, excluding platform and store fees: 12% on the Epic Games Store, and 30% on consoles, before dividing by the total spent on V-Bucks. With a 26% average platform fee, creators should still retain a good chunk of total player spending.
More Visibility and Engagement
Apart from product sales, creators will be able to pay for placement in a new "Sponsored row" on Fortnite's Discover tab soon, exposing them to more players. Epic is also launching tools for community forums and island updates that are intended to assist with engaging audiences and bringing players back.
Meanwhile, the new Delulu LTM mode surprises fans with the fresh proximity chat feature.
