Epic and Unity: From Rivals to Teammates
Oil and water, cats and dogs, Epic and Unity. For years, those last two have been the classic example of rivals in game development. Epic is behind Unreal Engine and Fortnite, while Unity powers countless indie hits and mobile games. These are not companies you normally expect to see teaming up.
That is changing in a big way. Epic Games has announced that it is partnering with Unity so developers can publish Unity made games directly into Fortnite. At the same time, Unity will bring support for Unreal Engine to its own commerce platform. Two of the biggest engines in the world are starting to work together instead of just competing.
According to Epic, more than 500 million registered accounts exist in the Fortnite ecosystem. Opening that world to Unity developers is a major shift not only for both companies but for how game platforms might work in the future.
What This Means For Fortnite And Unity Developers
The partnership has a few key parts that are worth breaking down, especially if you are a player, a new creator, or a developer thinking about your next project.
First, Epic says that developers will be able to publish Unity games into Fortnite and join the Fortnite Creator Economy. That means:
- Creators using Unity will be able to bring their games into one of the largest gaming ecosystems in the world.
- Those games can potentially earn revenue through the same creator programs that already exist inside Fortnite.
- For players, Fortnite could start to feel less like a single game and more like a launcher or hub for many different experiences.
Second, Unity is building Unreal Engine support into its enhanced commerce platform. In plain language, Unity is opening its cross platform tools so that developers using Unreal Engine can also handle things like:
- Pricing their games and content.
- Running promotions and discounts.
- Managing live operations, events, and updates.
Epic states that developers will be able to manage pricing, promotions, and live operations with Unreal Engine using this system starting early next year. More details about the full partnership and product timeline will land in early 2026.
For developers, this is all about choice. Whether you prefer Unity or Unreal, you will be able to reach more players and use more tools without being locked into a single closed ecosystem.
Fortnite As An Open Metaverse Experiment
So why would two fierce rivals suddenly decide to partner up like this
Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney frames it as a step toward an open metaverse. He compares it to the early days of the web, where different companies had to make their systems work together so the internet could grow. In his view, the future of games should be more like the open web instead of a handful of closed platforms with strict control.
Right now, Fortnite is still fully controlled and operated by Epic. Every part of the experience runs on their servers and under their rules. Sweeney imagines a future where that changes. He describes a day when you can open what we currently call Fortnite and then jump from that space to other experiences that are completely owned and controlled by other companies.
In that world:
- Epic does not manage those external experiences.
- Epic does not take a cut of their revenue.
- There are no special commercial agreements required.
- Those experiences would exist in relation to Fortnite the way websites exist in relation to your browser.
Unity is essentially the first big test case for this vision. By letting Unity based games plug into Fortnite and by supporting Unreal on Unity commerce tools, both companies are signaling that they want more interoperability and less walled gardens.
Unity CEO Matt Bromberg frames it in similar terms. He says that choice and open systems create growth for everyone in the gaming ecosystem. The message is clear. If developers and players can mix tools and platforms more freely, there is more room for creativity, variety, and of course profit.
There are still guardrails. For now, Epic says it will continue to review content that gets inserted into Fortnite and make sure it meets ratings and compliance requirements. Think of this as a content filter to keep the platform safe and in line with age ratings.
In the long term, Sweeney outlines something closer to a fully open platform. In that future model:
- Epic would only review content that it directly hosts.
- Anyone could host their own content elsewhere, then link to it.
- Players could browse and jump between experiences almost like clicking links between websites.
It is an ambitious idea and not something that is going to appear overnight. But the Unity partnership shows Epic is serious about pushing Fortnite toward that open, web like future instead of keeping it as a single giant game.
For players, the practical takeaway is simple. Expect Fortnite to keep evolving into more of a platform where all kinds of experiences live side by side, many of them made in engines that were once considered Epic’s competition. For creators and developers, this could become a powerful way to reach a huge audience no matter which engine you prefer to build in.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/epic-games-announces-sweeping-cross-platform-collab-bringing-unitys-games-and-commerce-platform-to-fortnite/
