Fortnite’s Metaverse Just Got Bigger: Unity Games Are Coming
Epic Games is shaking up the landscape of its massively popular game, Fortnite, by partnering with its biggest rival in game development, Unity. This groundbreaking collaboration will allow games built using the Unity engine to be playable directly within Fortnite, significantly expanding the platform’s content offerings.
- Epic Games and Unity Partner: A major move bringing rival game engines into Fortnite.
- Open Metaverse Vision: This aligns with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s long-term goal for an interoperable digital space.
- Expanded Developer Reach: Potentially brings millions of Unity developers and their games to Fortnite.
- Future of Interoperability: A significant step towards a more open and connected digital world.
Epic’s Grand Metaverse Ambitions
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney stated, “Just like the early days of the web, we believe that companies need to work together in order to build the open metaverse in a way that’s interoperable and fair.” This partnership is a crucial step in transforming Fortnite from a battle royale game into a vast 3D social hub, much like Roblox, but with a focus on open standards.
Previously, Fortnite operated as a closed ecosystem, limiting creators to Epic’s proprietary tools. This new integration breaks down those barriers, allowing experiences developed on the widely-used Unity engine to coexist with those made using Unreal Editor for Fortnite. This move is expected to dramatically increase the volume and diversity of games available to Fortnite players.
A Boon for Developers and the Ecosystem
The integration of Unity games is projected to launch next year, according to Unity President and CEO Matt Bromberg. This offers a significant new avenue for game developers, particularly smaller studios, to reach a massive audience and monetize their creations. In an industry grappling with ongoing struggles and layoffs, this partnership could prove to be a vital lifeline.
With over 1.2 million monthly active users of the Unity engine, even a small percentage adopting this integration could inject a substantial amount of new content into Fortnite. This move also signifies Epic’s commitment to a more decentralized future for Fortnite, where players can access experiences not solely controlled by Epic Games.
Streamlining Development and Commerce
Beyond bringing Unity games into Fortnite, the partnership extends to Unity’s commerce management platform. Unity will add support for Unreal Engine to its platform, which allows developers to manage digital storefronts and payments across multiple platforms from a single interface. This enhances developer choice and control over their business operations.
Sweeney emphasized that while a review process will initially ensure content is compliant and functional, the long-term vision is a completely open system. “As this evolves into a completely open system, we’d only have reviews for stuff that we host, and anybody would be able to put anything anywhere,” he explained, drawing parallels to the open nature of the World Wide Web.
Editor’s Take: A Calculated Leap Towards the Open Metaverse
This collaboration between Epic Games and Unity is more than just a content expansion for Fortnite; it’s a strategic masterstroke that directly addresses Tim Sweeney’s long-held vision of an open, interoperable metaverse. By embracing a rival engine, Epic signals a profound shift away from closed ecosystems towards a more connected digital future. For developers, this presents an unprecedented opportunity to tap into Fortnite‘s colossal player base without being locked into a single development toolset. While the practicalities of integration and content moderation remain to be seen, this partnership is a clear indicator of where the industry is heading: towards greater openness, choice, and collaboration, even among fierce competitors.
This article was based on reporting from The Verge. A huge shoutout to their team for the original coverage.
