Epic Games to rework Fortnite IP rollouts following creator backlash

Fortnite has long been home to fan-made “Squid Game” islands, with titles like “Octo Game 2” and “Squid Guys” building organic audiences on the platform since the first season dropped in September 2021. But after Epic Games announced an official “Squid Game” licensing agreement with Netflix last month, the company started to crack down on these unlicensed experiences, removing them from the platform entirely. So far, the only sanctioned integration is a “Squid Game” section within “Reload,” an experience created in-house, not by the creator community.

Epic has framed the crackdown as enforcement of existing guidelines intended to “remove infringing ‘Squid Game’ content from violative islands,” not the result of a new policy. An Epic spokesperson told Digiday that the delayed rollout was intentional, to give creators time to build before the official release of “Squid Game” assets. The spokesperson confirmed that Epic is aware of creators’ concerns about the delayed timing and plans to lift publishing holds earlier for future IP integrations. The spokesperson did not provide exact timelines.

“A staggered publish date gives creators time to build unique and high-quality gameplay experiences in Fortnite, and is consistent with our most recent IP collaborations. We want creators to find success that outlasts a show’s launch weekend or any other singular moment,” the Epic spokesperson said. “While ‘Squid Game’ season 3 remains in the No. 1 spot for non-English shows globally, we hear the feedback from the community and going forward we’ll aim to lift publishing holds so they align with what works best for creators and players.”

For both creators and marketers, the main source of frustration around the rollout of Epic’s “Squid Game” integrations is its timing. Creators are not permitted to publish officially licensed “Squid Game” experiences until August 14, nearly two months after the June 27 release of the show’s third season. Until then, creators interested in reaching the show’s fandom have had to carefully toe the line, with experiences like “Octo Game 3” managing to stick around by avoiding any explicit references to Squid Game characters or locations. 

Among both creators and marketers, the consensus is that the lack of licensed “Squid Game” creator experiences on Fortnite since the release of “Squid Game” season three has cost Netflix meaningful marketing value. This timing is particularly surprising in light of Netflix’s past promotion of “Squid Game” through video games such as “Squid Game: Unleashed,” which Netflix published two weeks ahead of the release of the series’ second season in December 2024. A Netflix representative did not respond to requests for comment.

“One reason why brands shouldn’t clamp down on unlicensed copies is because there is a huge amount of value in co-producing,” said Nina Mackie, the co-founder of the gaming advertising consultancy WeGame2. “That’s where your fan base comes from.”

The impact on Fortnite creators

For creators, Epic Games’ crackdown on unlicensed “Squid Game” experiences has upended the once-standard practice of building experiences around popular IP viewed as “safe” to adapt, including Mr Beast and “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Historically, tying a Fortnite experience to one of these properties was viewed as a surefire way to attract viewership and engagement, with creators interpreting the lack of any official crackdown as a tacit endorsement of the practice from both Epic and the IP holders. Moving forward, Fortnite creators such as Austin “Tom Jank” Rodriguez said that they plan to focus entirely on original properties and licensed IP, with the understanding that no IP is “safe” for unlicensed adaptation.

“It’s revealing the problem in not defending your IP [earlier] on these big UGC platforms, because if you come in this late and start shutting stuff down, it’ll just undermine how you look to creators,” Rodriguez said. “At the same time, there’s creators like me, who are happy to see them take stuff down, because I want people to do it less.”

Roblox creators have watched the past week’s events unfold on Fortnite with interest. Roblox has yet to crack down on its many unlicensed “Squid Game” experiences. But creators believe Epic’s recent removals are tied to its licensing deal, which gives the IP holder a 15 percent cut engagement revenue from official experiences. They anticipate that the rollout of Roblox’s own official licensing product — which launched yesterday and pays out between 15 and 25 percent of an experience’s revenue to the IP holder — could lead some brands to enact a similar crackdown on Roblox, where unofficial “Squid Games” experiences are also prolific. (A Roblox spokesperson clarified to Digiday that the response to unlicensed content is up to the IP holder’s discretion under the platform’s new licensing system, with one option being to remove the offending content.)

“If I was in Roblox, I’d be looking very closely at how they’re rolling out ‘Squid Game’ on Fortnite, and hopefully learning some lessons,” said Charles Hambro, CEO of the UGC data platform GEEIQ.

The marketer perspective

Brands and marketers aren’t upset by Epic Games’ crackdown on unlicensed content. They see it as a positive move that will boost IP holders’ confidence in integrating their properties into Fortnite, especially since they stand to earn millions of dollars from the 15 percent payout cut.

GEEIQ CEO Hambro, who often facilitates brands’ requests for proposals for Fortnite and Roblox activations, said that only 20 to 30 percent of advertisers are comfortable with entirely unlicensed use of their IP. However, he said most advertisers are open to collaborating with unlicensed experiences to bring them into the licensed fold, making Fortnite and Roblox’s recently announced official licensing tools valuable for this category of advertiser.

“I think all brands are considering this — they are all thinking about how they can make more money on new platforms,” Mackie said. “The in-game products or in-app purchases are not quite cutting it, and this is another way for them to monetize.”

Although formalizing IP licensing is a positive change for platforms like Fortnite and Roblox, Mackie said that the delayed timing of the rollout of official “Squid Game” assets in Fortnite squandered the opportunity, leaving free marketing value on the table by striking down dozens of unlicensed experiences without allowing creators to swap in licensed replacements. At the time of this article’s writing, nearly 8,000 Fortnite users are currently playing “Octo Game 3” — and they are explicitly doing so without engaging with “Squid Game” branding or assets. 

“The one thing you don’t want to do is upset the people who are going to be using your IP,” Hambro said. “You want to partner with them, especially if they’re going to give away 15 percent of profits that they weren’t giving away before.”