Epic Games has announced Fortnite Creative, a new mode that will give players the opportunity to design games and build unique Fortnite experiences with friends. Fortnite Creative will be available to play on December 13, but those that pick up the Season 7 Battle Pass can check it out from December 6.
"It's a brand new way to experience the world of Fortnite," Epic says on its website. "Design games, race around the island, battle your friends in new ways and build your dream Fortnite. It's all happening on your own private island where everything you make is saved."
Epic has said it plans to add new features and make improvements to Fortnite Creative in coming updates. "Like Battle Royale and Save the World, we're committed to making this bigger and better over time," it explained.
As noted in the video above, Epic is expecting initial rollout of Fortnite Creative to be "rough" and is encouraging those interested to get in early via the Battle Pass. Fortnite Season 7 is set to launch on December 6 and, alongside it, the new Battle Pass will be available. In addition to early access to Fortnite Creative, the Battle Pass entitles owners to a special set of challenges every week for as long as the season lasts. In turn, this means they can accrue Battle Stars faster and unlock cosmetics quicker.
Fortnite Creative mode is one of the many ways Epic Games is encouraging players to keep returning to the game. The company has made a point of trying to both vary and broaden the kind of experiences it offers, and the successes resulting from this has had a knock on effect on Epic as a business. On December 4 it revealed its own marketplace, which competes directly with Valve's Steam.
The Epic Games marketplace seems to be very developer friendly, giving creators 88% of their revenue. There is no profit-sharing and, instead, it's an 88/12 split between developers and Epic for listing on its marketplace. Developers that use Unreal Engine to create their game will have the 5% engine royalty covered by Epic out of its own 12% cut. Although this incentive encourages developers to use Unreal Engine, Epic says games created using other engines are also welcome.