Fortnite by the numbers: $342M paid to developers in 2024, developers triple to 70,000

Epic games it first released Fortnite The year of creation is 2024, and we have a lot to do.

Epic said Fortnite UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite) awarded $ 324 million to creators in 2024. The number of creators of the environment almost tripled to 70,000, and they published more than 198,000 islands (games / events).

The islands are becoming more and more popular, as about 60,000 islands are played every day. And 70+% of gamers play developer games and Epic games like Battle Royale.

The average number of players per game created by developers increased every year in 2024, the number of players playing the game every day increased by 15%; total hours played 5%. And there was significant growth in non-hitting sports.

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The creator community continues to grow rapidly, with the number of creators nearly tripling from 24,000 in 2023 to 70,000 creators in 2024. The number of published islands has also increased to 198,000 in 2024, including 137,000 UEF islands created in UF islands.

Although the trend varies from month to month due to the weather, the average number of players who are engaged in production islands daily, monthly, and annually increased this year, and daily players will increase by 15% in 2024.

Epic said it’s been encouraging to see more developers doing well in the Fortnite universe. A total of $352 million was awarded to producers in 2024, up 11% compared to the March-December period from 2023 to 2024.

In 2024, players spent 5.23 billion hours playing games created by developers – a figure that represents 36.5% of Fortnite’s total playing time and continues to rise. This represents an increase of 5% from 4.98 billion hours in 2023.

These numbers are boosted by the significant growth of non-combat game genres, such as role-playing games, party games, death rush, and horror. As of January 2025, these brands have accounted for more than 30% of the time spent on products by manufacturers, which is an increase of almost 50% from the same period last year.

What’s new is the equipment

In 2024, Epic expanded the capabilities of what developers can create with UEFN by introducing a First Person Camera device, new UI tools and HUD controls, Input Triggers, Proximity chat, Persistence, Custom NPCs, and many other useful features.

In the Creator Portal, Epic has released new ways to understand the audience it created, and to improve the calculation and metrics about your payments, the number of your players and the implementation of satisfaction data on islands. Epic also launched Creator Profiles to help players find all the islands they need in one place, as well as Favorite Creator to help you build an audience within Fortnite.

The beloved IPs came to UEFN and Fortnite Creative in 2024, helping you to create new games and experiences with the LEGO team, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Fall Guys tools and game tools. This allows you to create real commercial games using high-quality IP without getting lost in contracts or negotiations, and it is possible with a single contract.

This year, popular Epic islands included the ARPG Fort Knight Legend by Love-is-Real, pushed the boundaries of Verse UI, Verse Persistence, and RPG elements to provide a great and fun experience.

The other was Havoc Hotel 2 (Roguelike) by TeraCreators, which set the standard for roguelike PVE in Fortnite, including Custom UI, RPG elements, and save mechanics to take players beyond the game and tycoon modes.

There was Lumberjack Heroes by ItsJacky, which showcased the power of UEFN with its custom UI and fun gameplay. The island’s gameplay depth inspired other developers to push the boundaries of the Tycoon genre.

And another popular one was Pizza Shop Tycoon Boss Fight Update! Author TomJank, used TMNT templates, prefabs, and tools to create authentic and fun Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Finally, Epic unveiled The Kraken: Bossfight by Gauntlet, a role-playing game (RPG) that has taken the community by storm. With engaging quests, exploration, dungeons, and epic boss fights, it sets a new standard for immersive gaming.

Looking Ahead

As Epic looks forward to 2025, it plans to open up more opportunities for developers. Including moving Scene Graph into beta testing, introducing custom features, and introducing additional tools to help developers create deeper, more complex games with UEFN in new and popular formats.

The company acknowledged that it has updates to UEFN and developer capabilities. It said it is committed to increasing stability, improving interaction time during development, providing developers with information and tools to promote and grow players after launch, and making Discover the best representation of the variety of games available to players.

Later this month, Epic will update the Fortnite development roadmap to let developers know what content and updates they can expect throughout the year. The company will discuss the road in detail, along with in-depth discussions, at Unreal Fest in Orlando, which is taking place from June 2 to June 5.