Katarzyna Petru
No one expected such an announcement. During the annual Unity conference, something happened that can easily be called the beginning of a new era in game development. Unity and Epic Games — longtime great rivals — are entering into a collaboration that could completely reshape the way games are created and function.
Unity Games Officially Coming to Fortnite
Fortnite has long stopped being just a "game." It is an ecosystem, a platform, a gigantic marketplace with over 500 million accounts, where creators can earn through the Fortnite Creator Economy. Now, games created on Unity will join this world.
Yes, you read that right — projects from the Unity engine can be published directly in Fortnite. For developers, this means access to a massive audience and new monetization tools, and for Epic Games – another step in building its own metaverse.
This is just the beginning. Unity will add support for Unreal Engine
The second part of the collaboration is something even more surprising:
Unreal Engine will be integrated into the multi-platform trading platform of Unity.
What does this mean in practice? Developers working on Unreal will be able to manage:
digital product catalogs,
payment providers,
stores on PC, mobile, and the web,
prices, promotions, and live operations,
— using one unified set of Unity tools.
The unification of the two largest technologies in the industry is a move that not long ago sounded like science fiction.
The first features will appear early next year, when we will also learn the release schedule for the first games created with this integration in mind.
“It’s like the beginnings of the internet.” Tim Sweeney on the vision of a shared metaverse
The founder of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, does not hide the fact that he treats this announcement as a historic event:
“Just like in the early days of the internet, we believe that companies need to collaborate to build open metaverses in an interoperable and fair way. By working with Unity, we are helping developers create interesting games, reach a broader audience, and achieve success.”
This is a very clear signal: the battle for the metaverse is moving to the next level. Instead of a war of engines – it’s beginning to merge ecosystems.
What does it mean for the industry?
Developers are gaining unprecedented freedom of action.
Fortnite is solidifying its position as a gigantic, open gaming platform.
Unity and Unreal – instead of competing – are starting to collaborate on common infrastructure.
This could be a moment that in a few years we will remember like we remember the launch of the App Store or the beginnings of Steam. History is unfolding before our eyes — and 2026 could be the year when the boundaries between engines and platforms truly cease to exist.
