Amid competition with Roblox, Fortnite’s in-game item strategy appeals to both creators and brands

“Creators can sell the digital durable and consumable items that they build for their games,” the spokesperson wrote in the blog post. “At this time, sales will be limited to digital items only.”

By implementing in-game item sales, Epic Games is taking cues from Roblox, where in-game sales represent a huge source of business for both creators and the brands that integrate into their experiences and items. Forever 21, for example, sold millions of virtual black beanies inside Roblox in 2021 and 2022, with each item selling for between $0.50 and $0.70. The official Fortnite blog post about the update directly referenced Roblox, citing a statistic shared by Roblox showing that 25 percent of all in-experience dollars on the platform are currently spent on items.

Over the past year, some creators have started to make the jump from Fortnite over to Roblox due to their perception that the latter platform has superior creator monetization tools, according to David Taylor, CEO of the Roblox data analytics platform Creator Games, who declined to share specific numbers regarding the shift. The introduction of in-game item sales could help slow or stop the flow of creators from Fortnite to Roblox — and even convince some Roblox creators to dip their toes into Fortnite, per Taylor.

Fortnite is effectively undercutting Roblox: Fortnite’s in-game item revenue split is more advantageous for creators than Roblox’s revenue split, with Roblox creators receiving between 30 and 70 percent of revenues from sales of in-game items like clothing and accessories, compared to Fortnite’s announced 100 percent.

“The folks who are coming from Fortnite to Roblox are typically creator studios. They’re operating businesses — thinking, ‘how do I generate more revenue?’” Taylor said. 

So far, Fortnite’s brand integrations have largely been limited to interactive maps featuring brand mascots and IP or logo slaps inside pre-existing popular experiences. In-game sales of branded items — a practice already widespread for brands and creators on Roblox — give advertisers access to Fortnite’s most direct conversion metric yet.

“It’s a clearer ROI path,” said Morgan Pomish, svp and head of innovative experiences for the Publicis agency Digitas North America.

Representatives of three media agencies told Digiday that they viewed the impending rollout of in-game item sales as a positive signal for their clients, with the update potentially encouraging brands with fitting products to add in-game items to their Fortnite marketing mix.

“Brands have seen success and ROI from branded virtual goods on Roblox and other UGC platforms. With Fortnite now offering similar capabilities, it remains a competitive channel for deeper engagement within its audiences,” said Sami Barnett, senior director of gaming for the agency TMA. “It provides a fresh, scalable way to build branded experiences, and I anticipate many brands will want to be early movers to maximize impact and drive innovation within Fortnite’s vast ecosystem.”

Pomish flagged Epic Games’ announcement that it would increase creators’ engagement payout — which went out alongside the announcement of in-game item sales — as a “quiet indicator” that the company is looking to better reward its creators to keep them in the fold. She declined to specify whether she anticipated her clients would shift ad dollars over from Roblox as they increased their spending on Fortnite, but pointed out that the value proposition for advertisers remains different between the two platforms because Fortnite’s in-game items will be limited to specific experiences, rather than usable across the entire platform.

“It puts even more onus on the brand and the creator to make that specific item more valuable, in that it needs to be directly tied to what is going on in that experience — it’s not one-size-fits all, where it’s like, ‘we’re going to make a cool branded logo shirt and expect that people want it,’” Pomish said. “It’s going to have to have some sort of function or clear tie to the game, and that means they have to better understand the players and cultural context around that specific game.”

Fortnite creators have welcomed Epic Games’ move to introduce in-game item sales earlier than expected, a rollout many thought wouldn’t come until next year. Currently, the only major revenue streams available to Fortnite creators are the platform’s engagement payout, which gives creators a 40-percent share of revenue based on the total amount of user traffic and engagement inside their maps, and brand integrations inside maps. In-game item sales represent a third significant revenue stream for creators — and also give them options to integrate brands into their experiences in more creative ways.

“We’re super excited about the latest UEFN ecosystem update, as it allows us to create new, engaging incentives for our players,” said Zack Billingham, strategic partnerships manager for the Fortnite creator studio Good Gamers. “This update also lets brands reward players through exclusive, limited-time experiences and rewards like never before, opening doors that were previously closed for Fortnite integrations.”