A step in Epic’s long-term goal of transforming Fortnite from a battle-royale to a wider social, entertainment hub
Epic Games is partnering with Unity Technologies in a move that will allow developers to bring games made with Unity’s engine directly into Fortnite. The integration will place Unity titles alongside Epic’s own experiences and third-party creations built with the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, significantly expanding the range of playable content inside the platform.
In a statement, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said the collaboration reflects the company’s push toward an “open metaverse”.
“Companies need to work together to build a metaverse that is interoperable and fair,” Sweeney said. “Working alongside Unity, we’re helping developers build fun games, reach larger audiences and find success.”
Sweeney, speaking onstage at Unity’s Unite conference, said Fortnite will be opened to “all Unity games” through new network technology developed by Unity that connects external engines via a specialised protocol. From next year, Unity developers will be able to publish their games directly into Fortnite, making them discoverable through the platform’s interface and eligible to participate in Fortnite’s evolving economic system.
The move marks a significant step in Epic’s long-term goal of transforming Fortnite from a battle-royale title into a wider social and entertainment hub. Epic has been increasing its focus on creator-led content, and Sweeney said 40 per cent of Fortnite playtime now comes from third-party experiences.
According to Sweeney, Fortnite reached 100 million monthly active users during the last holiday period. Despite its scale, the ecosystem has remained closed, limiting creators to Epic’s own tools and preventing easy movement of content between engines or platforms. Sweeney has previously argued that interoperability between engines is central to his metaverse vision.
Epic has made progress toward building a broader ecosystem: by late 2024, more than 70,000 creators had published nearly 200,000 “islands”, the platform’s term for standalone experiences. Unity’s presence could amplify that dramatically. The Unity Editor has more than 1.3 million monthly active users, and even modest adoption from that pool would expand Fortnite’s catalogue.
For developers, the partnership offers a new distribution channel and potential revenue stream at a time when the gaming industry is grappling with layoffs and financial strain. It also concentrates more activity inside Fortnite, though Sweeney maintains that the long-term aim is decentralisation.
In an interview with The Verge, he said he envisions a future where Fortnite acts more like a web browser, allowing users to move to spaces hosted and governed entirely by other companies without Epic’s involvement or revenue share. “Today’s news with Unity is the first opportunity for engines to operate together,” he said.
For now, all Fortnite experiences, whether built using Epic’s tools or Unity, will undergo review to ensure ratings compliance and basic functionality. Sweeney said that in a more open future system, Epic would only review content it hosts.
Sweeney added that allowing Unity games will “greatly expand the developer base”, as creating content directly in Fortnite currently requires building from the ground up. Publishing standalone Unreal Engine games into Fortnite is not yet possible and is expected to arrive with Unreal Engine 6.
The partnership also includes a second component: Unity will add support for Unreal Engine to its new commerce management platform, announced last month. The tool is designed to help developers manage digital storefronts and payments across multiple platforms within the Unity environment.
Unity President and CEO Matt Bromberg said the addition of Unreal support will give developers “more choice in how they build and manage their stores”. He added that expanding optionality and control for creators is a shared priority between the two companies.
