Tim Sweeney Envisions Fortnite as 'The Everything Game'

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has outlined the ambitious future for Fortnite, emphasizing the company's goal to expand the game beyond its identity as a premier battle royale into a multifaceted platform hosting diverse genre experiences.

Following Fortnite's major "Big Bang" event that introduced Lego Fortnite, Harmonix's Festival, and Psyonix's Rocket Racing, Sweeney spoke with IGN at Unreal Fest 2025. He acknowledged that a core challenge remains: many players still primarily associate Fortnite with its flagship battle royale mode.

"Our central mission is for everyone to recognize Fortnite as the 'everything game'—a place where you can experience anything," Sweeney stated. "Achieving that vision will take time and delivering on multiple other compelling genres."

Progress toward this goal has been consistent. Festival continues to attract major musical artists for its seasonal updates, featuring new skins and songs. Lego Fortnite Odyssey maintains a dedicated core player base for its survival crafting gameplay. However, Rocket Racing has seen a significant reduction in support, while newer shooter-focused modes like Reload have gained greater traction.

During this week's State of Unreal presentation, Epic highlighted a milestone: a third-party creation within Fortnite briefly surpassed the popularity of Epic's own core modes—an unthinkable achievement just years ago. Yet, Epic's own non-shooter offerings haven't replicated this success, with player counts significantly below the main Battle Royale and Zero Build playlists, as well as modes like Reload and Fortnite OG.

When IGN asked if engagement for modes like Fortnite Festival and the Lego experiences met internal expectations, Epic Games EVP Sax Persson responded, "We're never fully satisfied."

"The shooter modes have performed well," Sweeney added. "We haven't yet captured the magic we envisioned for the music gameplay. It's interesting—we integrated the talented Harmonix team, known for Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and they've been innovating within that genre for Fortnite.

"They've also enriched Fortnite with Jam Tracks, which include not just songs but all associated beats and the ability to play them on instruments."

"Music has thrived extraordinarily in Fortnite, but ironically, not primarily within dedicated music games."

Despite Fortnite's massively popular in-game concerts drawing millions of players, Epic has yet to establish a formula for sustaining that level of regular engagement.

"Music has been a huge success in Fortnite, yet not mainly within music games," Sweeney observed. "It's more prevalent in Battle Royale and other areas. Our next objective is to scale music experiences effectively.

"Looking back at the heyday of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, there's an opportunity for a music game that attracts tens of millions of monthly active users—a title people adore and return to regularly for fantastic concerts and competitive gameplay."

The discussion turned to Lego, arguably the brand most integrated into Fortnite's ecosystem and the most popular of Epic's non-shooter modes.

"Lego is fascinating," Persson commented. "We're incredibly proud of its journey and its dedicated community. But is it as large as we'd like? No. We aspire to grow it further and find ways to reach more Lego enthusiasts."

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This again underscores the central issue: Fortnite's brand is still overwhelmingly tied to the battle royale genre.

"What's our main hurdle? Fortnite is Fortnite, and historically, it was a shooter," Persson explained. "It's not just a shooter anymore—it's the 'everything game.' We need to communicate that story more effectively."

Sweeney pointed to one solution: enhancing the tools for third-party developers using Fortnite's Unreal Editor (UEFN). While Epic currently has superior internal tools, the plan is to level the playing field, eventually allowing creators to build experiences with the same capabilities Epic uses for its own battle royale seasons, targeted for 2026.

"When we develop our modes, we use C++ and the full Unreal Engine, while creators work with our provided toolset, Verse, and certain APIs," Sweeney noted.

"Our major initiative is to converge these development frameworks so that Epic and creators operate with identical tools and capabilities. This will empower creators significantly and has been a primary focus for the last two years."

"We will only consider Fortnite a true success as an ecosystem."

Why not simply remain a highly successful battle royale? For Epic, Fortnite's long-term viability and revenue depend on continuous evolution and cultural relevance, adapting to shifting trends in the gaming landscape.

"Our success with Fortnite is ultimately tied to its strength as an ecosystem," Sweeney concluded. "If another entity surpasses us by building something bigger, cooler, and better than battle royale—which is highly probable—we need to be prepared.

"The shooter genre has always evolved with new technology, from simple Deathmatch to large-scale vehicular combat," he added. "Battle royale is currently the pinnacle of the shooter genre, thanks to pioneers like the Japanese filmmakers and Brendan Greene [PUBG creator]. But it's certainly not the final form. New technologies will enable currently impossible experiences, unleashing unexpected creativity and surprises."

It's been an eventful week for Epic Games, which also discussed the future of AI in Unreal Engine and Fortnite, following the release of an AI-powered Darth Vader. Additionally, Epic and CD Projekt Red shared insights on the impressive Witcher 4 demo and whether the final game will match its visual fidelity.