Epic Games is gearing up for its biggest shake-up to Fortnite Creative since the introduction of the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Soon, Epic will allow developers who use UEFN to make Fortnite Creative modes, or “islands,” to sell in-game items using V-Bucks, the game’s real-money currency.
The news, which Epic announced during the Veteran’s Day holiday in the US, was not met with much excitement from fans. The way the Fortnite Creative ecosystem is currently crammed with clones of tycoon, boxfight, and platforming islands, it’s easy to see how adding microtransactions to any of the typical island types could be a bad thing. And it becomes much more difficult to see any possible upside when Epic’s example idea is to sell people a better shovel for 300 V-Bucks.
But the reality is actually pretty murky, because V-Buck transactions are a wildcard that could completely shake up the Fortnite Creative ecosystem and encourage creators to try new things. We’ve got a digital Wild West here, in a sense. Let’s try to understand the situation a little better, and get a better sense of where it may lead us, by taking a deep dive into the details.
What’s actually happening with V-Bucks and Fortnite Creative
Right now, creators can use UEFN to make islands that use the V-Buck mechanic, but they cannot publish these islands yet. The most important detail to understand here is that UEFN developers will not be able to sell any of the same types of things Epic sells–meaning purely cosmetic items are not allowed. That means no skins, no pickaxes, no kicks, and no original cosmetic types. Likewise, you can’t sell XP gains, since Epic sells account levels in the shop. Random loot crates are allowed but will automatically be disabled in the many countries where that predatory practice is banned.
These restrictions mean, essentially, that anything sold in a Creative island must have a gameplay purpose. So in the current Creative ecosystem, the most obvious options are pay-to-win mechanics, like selling better-quality guns in a boxfight map, or some kind of bonus to your gains in a tycoon. Most of the available options are the kinds of things players generally dislike.
But since the current Creative ecosystem is currently geared entirely toward earning payouts from Epic through engagement and playtime, these V-Buck transactions probably aren’t being added for the sake of most existing islands. Most current islands would drive people away if they started charging for things that used to be free, and those island creators will be able to keep earning those same playtime payouts in the same way they have been anyway. In other words, those maps can keep making money the same way they have been, so they may not want to bother with V-Buck shenanigans that could mess up their current streams of revenue.
