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Fortnite paid creators more than $350 million in 2024 - with 7 creators making more than $10 million each.

The custom islands represent more than a third of all hours spent by players in Fortnite, so making sure there is an incentive to make them makes sense for Epic.

Fortnight Header — Image credit: Epic Games

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Tue Jan 28 2025

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Fortnite remains one of the inescapable behemoths in gaming today. It is played by millions worldwide, is home to countless crossovers, and even offers incentives for players who want to create custom islands for other fans to drop into. While most Fortnite creators won’t make much from their islands, a huge amount of money was paid out overall last year. In 2024 alone, Epic Games and Fortnite paid out $325 million to the creators, with some bringing in millions all on their own.

The figure comes from Fortnite’s annual report on their creator ecosystem. The $325 million paid out to Fortnite creators between March and December 2024 was up 11% when compared to the same period the year before. More than 70000 people created islands in Fortnite in 2024, which was almost triple the 24000 in 2023.

How much money can you make from making islands in Fortnite? That depends on how successful you are. The vast majority of creators – nearly 13,000 of them – made between $100 and $1000. However, becoming one of the top creators in Fortnite comes with a big payout. The highest-paid Fortnite island creators made over $10 million in 2024, with just 7 people falling into this elite bracket.

That is a lot of money, but the report also adds an important factor to these stats. Fans spent 5.23 billion hours on creator-made islands in Fortnite, which is 36.5% of the total time people spent in the game last year. That means that the fan-made content in Fortnite is a huge draw for many players who want something different from the default battle royale playstyle. Giving people an incentive to make these new islands is just good business for Epic.

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