Unity, Epic Partner To Open ‘Fortnite’ To Unity Games And Expand Unreal Support

In a move that few in the gaming world would have predicted a few years ago, longtime rivals Unity and Epic Games have announced a new partnership that could reshape how game creators and developers reach audiences, starting with Fortnite, one of the world’s biggest digital platforms, gaming or otherwise.

Revealed during Unity’s Unite developer conference, the collaboration will allow developers to publish Unity-built games directly inside Fortnite. For creators, that means access to an ecosystem with more than 500 million registered accounts and an ever-growing creator-driven economy.

In practice, Unity developers will soon be able to launch standalone experiences, built with the tools they’re already comfortable using, inside Epic’s massive metaverse gaming platform.

Unity also confirmed it will bring Unreal Engine support to its expanding cross-platform commerce tools. Unreal developers will gain new options for managing digital storefronts, payment systems, catalogs, and live-ops across PC, mobile, and web. Unity says Unreal compatibility will roll out early next year.

Unity CEO Matt Bromberg framed the partnership as a pragmatic step toward industry growth:

We’re excited to partner with Epic Games to create more opportunities for game developers around the world. Choice and open systems create growth for everyone in the gaming ecosystem.

Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney added:

Just like the early days of the web, we believe that companies need to work together in order to build the open metaverse in a way that’s interoperable and fair. Working alongside Unity, we’re helping developers build fun games, reach bigger audiences, and find success.

More details are expected in the coming months, but for now, two companies long positioned as competitors appear to be aligning around a shared future.