Fortnite developer Epic Games has detailed how it will soon allow third-party sellers to offer “paid random items” within the game’s creator-made modes — something that opens the door to loot boxes, fans have said.
Back in September, Epic Games announced it would begin allowing third-party creators to sell in-game items in the near future. As of today, creators now have access to the tools necessary to do so, though the feature is not yet live in the game. (To be clear, there’s no suggestion that Epic Games will begin offering randomized items for use within the game’s main modes, such as Battle Royale, which it develops itself.)
An array of blog posts are now available detailing the rules that Fortnite creators must follow when selling items within their own modes — including a series of legal restrictions that blocks randomized items in certain countries and for some users under the age of 18.
“In addition to your responsibility to comply with laws, you must comply with certain restrictions that apply when offering Paid Random Items,” Epic Games wrote in a blog post titled ‘In-Island Transactions Restrictions.’ “Failure to utilize the functions described below will constitute a violation of Epic policies.”
The sale of randomized items is fully blocked in Singapore, Qatar, Australia, the Netherlands, and Belgium — a list that includes several countries which have fought back against video game loot boxes in the past. In the United Kingdom (and Brazil, as of March 2026) paid randomized items are blocked to players under the age of 18.
Epic Games has also stipulated that any transaction involving a random item must disclose the odds of whatever is included within it.
“For example,” Epic Games wrote, “if you offer a health potion pack that has a random chance of granting either 5, 10 or 50 potions, you must disclose the odds of their potential award before purchase (e.g., 60% chance of granting 5 potions, 30% chance of granting 10 potions, and 10% chance of granting 50 potions).”
A wider pool of countries are restricted from seeing direct prompts to purchase (such as “buy now!). This list includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (under 13), Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (under 17), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (under 16).
General restrictions on the sale of in-game items also exist, and are fairly straightforward — there’s a whole list of rules around not copying or providing confusingly-similar items to those Fortnite does already. Clearly, Epic Games has already pre-emptively assumed some creators will do this to encourage or hoodwink players into spending money.
Back in September, Epic Games singled out Fortnite’s big rival Roblox by name when explaining how creators will get a better cut of in-game revenue on its own platform. Fortnite creators will earn 37% of in-game sales, temporarily doubled to 74% for 12 months, until December 31, 2026. By comparison, Roblox offers 25% of in-game revenue to creators. But it remains to be seen how many Roblox developers can be tempted away to Fortnite, and also exactly how creators will begin selling in-game items — even within Epic’s rules.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
