100 Thieves has recently launched its first game, Bank Heist, inside Fortnite. The game was created by a team of five in just six weeks, thanks to Epic Games and their Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). This innovative technology has allowed non-traditional game developers like 100 Thieves to create exciting AAA experiences in a fraction of the time it would usually take.
Pete Hawley and the game development and marketing teams at 100 Thieves seized the opportunity to create something fun for fans of the organization and anyone who loves an excellent competitive shooter. The game promises to deliver an exhilarating experience for all players.
Democratization is gaining weight in the industry progressively. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and big companies giving even free access to such tools paves the way for smaller companies with smaller budgets and teams to create games with the potential to match AAA products.
One of these products that contribute to the democratization of the game industry is UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite). UEFN is an application that lets professionals and enthusiasts design, develop, and publish games in Fortnite. It takes advantage of Unreal Engine 5’s powerful tools and workflows, including custom asset import, modeling, materials, VFX, Sequencer, and Control Rig. It also works with Fortnite’s existing Creative toolset, enabling developers to develop and test their projects on PC and console in real-time.
The difference between Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN is that it is specifically designed to enable developers to develop experiences for Fortnite. This means that every experience they create can be published on the Fortnite platform, reaching an audience of millions.
UEFN is still in its early phases but already started to bear fruit. More developers will surely be interested and involved in making games and the means to develop games accessible to more people. UEFN offers the ability to create experiences for Fortnite exclusively, which is a restricted audience considering the whole size of the game industry. But such steps towards democratization will surely convince industry giants to put more emphasis on the topic and start working on it.
