Epic’s Fortnite has found a new developer in Barnyard Games. While not an Epic subsidiary, the studio will make triple-A games inside the popular title using the Unreal Engine for Fortnite (UEFN) platform.
UEFN was first announced back in March as a Fortnite add-on that lets users make and publish their own works directly into the game. For all intents and purposes, think of it as Fortnite’s answer to the Forge mode in the Halo series.
With a developer now focused on making Fortnite games, this opens up new revenue and studio opportunities going forward. It also puts the game on par with Roblox, which has developers making games for its own platform.
Barnyard was founded by industry alums Matthew Armstrong (Borderlands), John Blakely (DC Universe Online), Mark Cieslar (Everquest II), and Christopher Sturr (Planetside 2). It’s raised $3.4 million in seed funding thus far, with the charge being led by Menlo Ventures.
As Barnyard’s CEO, Blakely called UEFN “an array of untapped and exciting possibilities.” Over time, the developer intends to use it in a way that allows experimentation and “gives players a central role in shaping their virtual worlds.”
Along with its own existence, Barnyard came bearing several UEFN titles that are currently playable in Fortnite, with the intended highlight being Mega Golf Fun Zone.