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At the same time, contrary to Apple’s payments through the App Store, Epic reaps 95% of the earnings of people participating in the new “Support a Creator” program.
Fortnite was a huge success for Epic Games, with the company benefiting from virtual currency purchases by players as well as from groups producing content specific to the game. However, those groups of independent developers working on content certainly do not earn high amounts from in-game purchases.
In a profile of the growing number of creators creating content for Fortnite, TheVerge reports that small businesses are being created specifically for third-party efforts. However, these teams must rely on working with brands to earn any significant revenue, instead of enjoying funds coming from Epic.
Covers discussions with companies like Beyond Creative that have worked with companies like Verizon and Nvidia, and the projects may end up requiring a lot of work. According to Simon Bell, co-owner of Alliance Studios, a branded project can take anywhere between two weeks and six months, depending on workload.
These transactions are also lucrative, with Bell confirming contracts can be between “four to six digits” in size. In return, the brands have a map and content that players can experience.
An epic kernel
While the projects are generally successful, with about half of the playing time of Fortnite users spend in the custom cards instead of the main game, the developers do not count on earning much directly from the game.
Epic runs a Support-A-Creator program, which gives participants a Creator Code that players can enter into the game. Purchases made while a code is active on an account give a small credit to the owner of that code.
The problem is that the amount that the creators receive can be quite low. It’s so low that in a general question about the program, Epic asks if creators can get rich from it, “Please expect modest results.”
The Support-A-Creator program is open to anyone with more than 1,000 followers on a social media program, is 13 years of age or older, can accept the agreement, can comply with Creator Content Guidelines, and can pay the company ‘s designated payment platform.
In return for agreeing to the terms, creators can earn a very low amount in return. In fact, creators can expect to earn $ 5 per $ 100 from in-game purchases by fans using that creator’s code.
In addition, creators must earn at least $ 100 over a 12-month period to be eligible for payment. If that $ 100 barrier is not met, “any assigned purchases and / or redemptions made by followers during that 12-month period will be reset to zero.”
The amount that creators can earn with Epic is extremely low compared to other store windows. For Apple’s App Store, it takes a 30% commission from purchases, 15% under certain circumstances, leaving developers with the bulk of the transaction’s value.
In April, Apple attacked Meta over a plan to charge developers up to 47.5% for virtual goods sold through the Meta Quest store, combining a 17.5% reduction with a 30% platform fee.
The competitive metaverse-style platform Roblox was also under fire in August 2021 for providing developers with a small fraction of its in-game sales. However, even that commission provided creators with about 35% of the full Robux value.
Epic’s surprisingly low payout rate to creators is ironic, as one of the reasons behind Epic Games’ decision to withdraw Fortnite of the App Store and which caused a major legal battle was Apple’s 30% commission, and Epic’s intention to avoid it.
Those of Fortnite stinginess is not just limited to content creators. Epic Games became the targets of criticism and lawsuits for alleged theft of dance moves, which are then used as emotes in the game.
The financial difficulty of earning from Fortnite drove creators to work with brands to earn significant revenue, but they also wish there were more monetization options. For example, create virtual items for sale in the digital store front.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, also hinted in April that Epic could offer more monetization options in the future. Sweeney noted that Epic is working on “Fortnite creative economics versions 2 and 3 “and to expect” major changes throughout the year “.