Last Updated: June 7, 2023 

ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM PAYOUT TERMS

1. Introduction.

The Engagement Payout Program and the services and features we make available to you (the “Program”) is a program that allows certain Fortnite Content creators (“Creator”) to receive real-money rewards based on User engagement with that Content (“Engagement Payout Award”).

 

2. About these Terms.

These Engagement Payout Terms (the “Terms”) apply to your participation in the Program. These Terms are a contract between the Creator that accepts these Terms (“you,” “your,” or “yours”) and Epic as defined in Section 11.6. By submitting your Application, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to be bound by the terms of this contract and all of Epic’s policies, including the Fortnite EULA (which these Terms are a part of), the Creator Content Rules, Epic Content Guidelines, Epic Community Rules, the Fan Content Policy, and any other applicable policies or documentation Epic may publish or update from time to time at Epic’s sole discretion (subject to notice to you as provided in each respective document). This next part is very important:

READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. THESE TERMS WILL REQUIRE YOU AND EPIC TO RESOLVE DISPUTES ABOUT THESE TERMS THE SAME WAY YOU HAVE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES ABOUT FORTNITE. THIS MEANS YOU ARE AGREEING TO BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION OF MOST DISPUTES WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO GO TO COURT INDIVIDUALLY OR AS PART OF A CLASS ACTION. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SECTION 12 OF THE FORTNITE EULA.

 

3. Program Eligibility Requirements.
 

In addition to accepting these Terms and submitting your Application, you must meet the following requirements to participate in the Program:

3.1 Age Requirements. You must be a legal adult where you live to accept these Terms. By applying to this Program, you represent that you are legally an adult in your region.

3.2 Enterprises. If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership or other legal entity, (“Enterprise”), you represent that you have authority to act on behalf of that Enterprise, and that such Enterprise accepts these Terms. For clarity, Enterprises are not Teams for the purpose of Section 3.8.

 

3.3 Epic Account Requirements. You must have an active Epic Games Account (“Account”) with 2-Factor Authentication enabled that either:

(a) first logged into Fortnite at least 30 days before applying, and edited at least one Island in Fortnite Creative or Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) or edited a project in Unreal Engine for at least 7 of the last 30 days; OR
(b) spent and redeemed $73 or more (based on USD prices) on Fortnite in-game purchases in the last 90 days; V-Buck Gift Cards are not eligible toward this requirement.

 

3.4 Financial Information. You must provide complete and accurate tax and payment information to Epic and its Payout Provider on the timeline required by Epic. 

 

3.5 Compliance with Other Terms. You must be in compliance with these Terms, Fortnite’s EULA, and additional terms and policies that apply to you as a Creator (for example Fortnite’s Creator Content Rules) or as a Fortnite User. 

 

3.6 Customary Restrictions. Epic employees, agents, representatives, and their immediate family members (e.g., spouse, parent, sibling, and anybody living together with one of our employees) are ineligible to apply.

3.7 Program and Engagement Payout Award Availability. You are not eligible to participate if the Program is restricted or prohibited by law where you live, or we cannot remit payment to you because of legal or other considerations. Epic uses a third-party payment provider to make Engagement Payout Award payments to Program participants in these countries and regions. 

3.8 Teams. If Creators coordinate as a group or team to register for a single account to create Content (a “Team”), the individual owner of the account will be considered the leader of the Team (the “Team Leader”). By participating in a Team, you are giving the Team Leader the sole and exclusive right to act on behalf of the entire Team, yourself included. Teams may enter separate agreements regarding activities related to payments, Content, or the Team Leader’s authority, but Epic is not a party to and will not be bound by any agreement among or between the members of a Team .

If you decide to participate in a Team, you acknowledge the following:

• Any reference to “you” or “Creator” means the Team Leader. 
• Epic will make any payments under these Terms solely to the Team Leader. Members of a Team agree that their sole remedy in the event of a payment dispute is to seek recovery of any payment from the Team Leader, and waive any claims against Epic for payments made to the Team Leader. 

• If the Team elects a new Team Leader, the Team must contact Epic Player Support to notify Epic of the change and follow Epic’s procedures for verification. In the alternative, the Team may publish new content under the new Team Leader’s Fortnite account.

 

Epic does not offer any opinion or advice concerning how a Team chooses to distribute an Engagement Payout Award (as defined by Section 1) among its members. However, it is incumbent upon the Team Leader to comply with all applicable laws and regulations concerning payment or nonpayment for services performed among a Team, including all applicable labor and employment laws in each region where individual members of the Team reside. 

 

4. Your Content and Conduct. 

4.1 Restricted Content. 

Not all Content is eligible for monetization via the Program. Content is only eligible for Payout if it meets these conditions: it complies with these Terms (including all applicable Creator Content Rules), is published to Fortnite by an Account owned and operated by you, and for which Epic makes monetization available. 

By way of example, but without limiting any other Content restrictions specified in these Terms, you are not allowed to do any of the following:

• Fake Engagement. You may not do anything that causes or encourages any artificial manipulation of genuine User engagement, including by using automatic systems or providing third parties with incentives to increase artificial traffic, or otherwise manipulate metrics in any manner.
• Impersonation. You can't falsely use the identity of or claim to be another person, Creator, or brand, or otherwise cause confusion about the source of the Content or the source of goods or services included within the Content. 
• Deception, Fraud, Spam. You may not spam, scam, or use other deceptive practices to trick Users into misleading or taking advantage of other Users. 
• Reporting Abuse. You may not misuse any reporting, complaint, dispute, or appeals process, including by making groundless, vexatious, or frivolous submissions.
• Infringing Content. You may not: (a) publish Content infringing on copyright or trademarks, including Content that includes third-party intellectual property (such as copyrighted material) or the Content of other Creators; or (b) incorporate or feature third-party intellectual property, including third-party intellectual property that appears in Fortnite (e.g. the Content of other Creators), in marketing or promotional materials related to your Content unless you have permission from that party or are otherwise legally entitled to do so. You and you alone are legally responsible for the Content you submit. 

We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement according to the process described here. In appropriate circumstances, Epic’s policies provide for the termination of repeat infringers’ Account access.

4.2 Removal of Content 

Removal of Content by Epic. If your Content violates these Terms, Epic may remove, suspend availability to, or refuse to publish, any or all of your Content. Epic may also remove your Content in the event of any change in applicable laws, regulations, or policies that would otherwise risk liability for Epic, including compromising the integrity or operation of Fortnite. 

Removal of Content by You. You may remove your Content at any Time. You must remove your Content from the Service if you no longer have the rights required by these Terms.

Effect of Removal. Content that is removed is ineligible for a Engagement Payout Award upon removal.

Please note: Even if you delete or remove any previously published Content that violates these Terms, you can still be in violation of these Terms. Publishing prohibited Content at any time, even if it is later deleted or removed, can be the basis of a negative determination on your Epic Games Account.

4.3 Terms Violations. 

Payment Withholding. Epic may withhold or adjust the Engagement Payout Award associated with your violation of these Terms, including in the event that you violate Section 4.1. If after issuing an Engagement Payout Award we determine that you violated these Terms before you earned such Engagement Payout Award, Epic reserves the right to recover that Engagement Payout by deducting such amounts from any future Engagement Payout Award you may receive. In certain circumstances, Epic may also temporarily suspend for a period of time the Engagement Payout Award on any or all of your Content.

Suspend or Terminate Program Participation. Violation of these Terms may result in your temporary suspension from or permanent removal from the Program. If your participation in the Program has been suspended or terminated, you may not use another Account to circumvent these restrictions. 

Suspend or Terminate Account. Epic may terminate your Account in accordance with these Terms, the Epic’s policies, or any other agreement you have with Epic. 

4.5 Notice. Epic will use reasonable commercial efforts to notify you in connection with any negative action taken in accordance with this Section and how to appeal the action unless we reasonably believe that to do so: (a) would violate the law, the direction of a legal enforcement authority, or otherwise risk legal liability for Epic or our Affiliates; (b) would compromise an ongoing investigation or the integrity or operation of Fortnite; or (c) would otherwise risk liability or harm to any User, third party, Epic or our Affiliates.

 

5. Payout Calculations.

5.1 Engagement Payout Award. Epic evaluates the performance of your Content in Fortnite by measuring how engaging Users find that Content as a basis for an Engagement Payout Award which distributes a portion of spending from purchases of cosmetic and similar consumer items that are usable across all of Fortnite (the "Engagement Payout Pool") to creators based on engagement. Your Engagement Payout Award reflects the engagement attributable to your Content as a portion of User engagement across all content in Fortnite, as solely determined by Epic. The first 18 months of the Engagement Payout Award program will comprise an early access program, during which Epic will be frequently updating the formula used to calculate Engagement Payout Awards. You can learn more about how the Engagement Payout Pool and your Engagement Payout Award are calculated here by following creator news here. 

5.2 No Right to Audit. Neither these Terms nor any other agreement or legal principle provide any right for you or any third party to inspect or examine any of Epic’s data, documents, records, software, or systems, related to or in any way connected with the Program. Epic has no duty to disclose any financial statements, balance sheets, formulas, or any other business records to you or any third party, specifically including any financial information related to the Engagement Payout Award.

 

6. Payment Details.

Epic will distribute Engagement Payout Awards monthly. Here’s what to expect with Epic’s payout process:

6.1 Engagement Payout Award Account. You must successfully set up a payout account and complete any payout enrollment process required by the third-party service provider Epic engages to process and distribute Engagement Payout Awards (“Payout Provider”) before you can receive Payouts. You will have 60 days from Acceptance into the Program to complete the enrollment process. If by that time you haven’t completed the enrollment process, you will not be able to receive any Payout Awards, any attributed purchases or redemptions will reset to zero, and we will terminate these Terms.

6.2 Representatives. If you are acting as a Creator’s agent or representative, you certify that you are authorized to provide the specific payout information which you give to us and, where applicable, to receive Engagement Payout Awards from us. Epic is not responsible for, and will not adjudicate, any disputes between you and any other agent or entity relating to (a) payout information that you provide to us or (b) the payout or any apportionment of the payout between you and any third party.

6.3 Paid Monthly via Payout Provider. If you reach the Payout Minimum, we will distribute your Engagement Payout Award approximately 30 days after the end of the month for which it is calculated. Your Engagement Payout Award lags behind one month because we review engagement for the entire month. As an example, your November Engagement Payout Award would reflect your October engagement. You can view your Engagement Payout Award information within the Creator Dashboard of the Creator Portal.

6.4 Payout Minimum. Generally, we only issue payment in amounts over $100 USD. If the engagement payouts associated with your Account do not equal or exceed $100 USD (the “Payout Minimum”), we will roll that amount over monthly and pay you when you cross the Payout Minimum threshold. The Payout Minimum threshold is considered every 12 months starting from the date of Acceptance into the Program. If you do not reach the Payout Minimum threshold within a 12-consecutive month period, your engagement payout will be reset to zero and you will have to start again. If you participate in other Epic monetization programs, Epic may, at its discretion, combine eligible rewards payable to you in connection with any other program to meet the Payout Minimum. 

 

7. Taxes.

7.1 Forms. We will need you to give us a completed Form W-9 (if you are based in the United States) or Form W-8BEN (if you are not based in the United States), bank account details, and other information for your tax onboarding so that we can pay you. 

7.2 Reporting and Withholding. You are responsible for the payment of all other taxes, including income taxes, levies, VAT, and similar fees, due on payments we make to you under these Terms. In certain jurisdictions, tax regulations may require that we collect and/or report tax information about you, withhold taxes from payouts to you, or both. If you fail to provide us with documentation that we determine is sufficient to fulfill our obligation to withhold taxes from payouts to you, we may withhold payouts up to the amount as required by law, until you provide us with sufficient documentation.

If we have to withhold taxes on payments we make to you, we will deduct those taxes from the amount owed to you and pay the proper tax authorities. We will give you a receipt for any of these withholding taxes and we’ll also provide you other documents you reasonably request so that you can claim foreign tax credits or refunds.

 

8. Fees. 

8.1 Payout Transaction Fees. Please note, transaction fees are charged by our Payout Provider on each Engagement Payout Award payment (which will be paid from any amounts that would otherwise be owed to you). Epic does not assess any additional fees. 

8.2 Third-Party Costs. You are solely responsible for any third party costs or fees associated with Epic’s publication of your Content. Epic’s only obligations under these Terms are to you, the individual User Accepting these terms, and only upon Epic’s acceptance of your Application. Epic is not and will not be responsible for any commissions, taxes, fees, or other monies that you owe to others, including others who may have helped you create your Content.

8.3 Third-Party Agreements. You acknowledge that Epic is not responsible under any guild, union, artist, record label, publishing company, third party licensor, or performing rights society agreement (“Third Party Agreements”) to use your Content as permitted under these Terms and Epic’s policies. If you create any content that is subject to such payments or obligations, you are solely responsible for making those payments. If any demand is made to Epic with regard to such payments, Epic reserves the right to: a) deduct such amounts from any payments owed to you; b) remove your Content; c) terminate or suspend these Terms until you have properly remitted payments to the appropriate parties; d) pursue any other remedies available to Epic at law or equity; or e) any combination of the foregoing.

 

9. Program Termination and Modification.

9.1 Epic’s Right to Modify. Epic may change these Terms, for example, modify, amend, add, remove, or modify the Eligibility Requirements, and change how we calculate Engagement Payout Awards, all at any time and for any reason by updating these Terms. 

If we materially change these Terms, we’ll provide you with reasonable advance notice and the opportunity to review the changes, except in urgent situations, such as legal, regulatory, or security reasons or to prevent harm or liability to any User, third party, Epic or our Affiliates. If you don’t agree to the new terms, you should stop using the Creator Portal and remove any Content you published. 

9.2 Epic’s Right to Terminate. The existence of this Program today in no way creates an obligation for Epic to continue the program in the future, nor does it guarantee that you will receive any future Engagement Payout Award. Epic may terminate these Terms at anytime by providing you with at least 15 days’ notice. 

9.3 Your right to Terminate. You may terminate these terms any time by providing Epic at least 15 days’ notice.

9.4 Effect of Suspension or Termination. Once you or we terminate these Terms, you will only be entitled to Engagement Payout Awards prior to termination, and only if those Engagement Payout Awards meet the Payout Minimum threshold.

 

10. Other Matters.

10.1 Disclosures. Both Users and their Content must comply with all legal and regulatory disclosure requirements, including endorsement disclosures, where applicable.

10.2 Your Relationship with Epic. These Terms constitute a non-exclusive contract between Epic as a self-publishing platform for your Content and you as an independent Creator. Engagement Payout Awards are not wages. Voluntarily submitting Content for inclusion in Fortnite does not create an employment or independent contractor relationship between you and Epic. Epic is not hiring or engaging you to provide any service. As a participant in the Program, you set your own schedule, and create Content only if, as and when you choose and without supervision, control, or direction by Epic. You are responsible for your own equipment and supplies that you use to create. You undertake these activities at your own risk, and you will not be entitled to worker’s compensation, insurance protection, or other benefits that Epic might provide to its employees.

10.3 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights and obligations under these Terms to any other person for any reason, and unless otherwise prohibited, any attempt by you to do so will be considered void and may also result in the termination of these Terms and your Account. 

10.4 LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to the fullest extent authorized by applicable law: EPIC SHALL HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR CONTENT YOU CREATE, INCLUDING FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT CONTENT. USER-GENERATED CONTENT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER THAT MADE IT AVAILABLE. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION HEREOF, IN NO EVENT SHALL EPIC OR ITS DIRECT OR INDIRECT SUBSIDIARIES, CONTROLLED AFFILIATES, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES, OR REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON OR ENTITY, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, EVEN IF EPIC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LIABILITY. 

10.5 Indemnification. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Epic, its Affiliates, and each of the foregoing’s respective directors, officers, employees, agents, successors and assigns (collectively the “Epic Parties”), from and against any and all third party claims, loss, liability, injury, property damage, costs or damages arising from actual or threatened claims or causes of action for (a) your alleged or actual breach of these Terms or (b) your gross negligence or willful misconduct. In addition, User agrees to defend, indemnify and hold the Epic Parties harmless from and against any and all third-party claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable outside attorneys’ fees) arising from the Content, including related intellectual property claims. This provision shall survive the expiration or termination of these Terms.

10.6 Insurance. You acknowledge that Epic does not provide for or carry any insurance of any kind for your benefit or that of your heirs, executors and administrators relative to your obligations under these Terms. You are solely responsible for obtaining and paying for any life, accident, automobile, employment-related, property or other insurance relative to your creation of Content, or any obligations you owe under these Terms. 

10.7 Choice of Law/Venue. These Terms and any disputes arising under them shall be governed by the laws of North Carolina applicable to contracts executed and performed entirely therein. Any action to enforce these Terms to which an applicable agreement to arbitrate does not apply shall be brought exclusively in the state courts in Wake County, North Carolina or, if federal jurisdiction exists, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and Epic and you irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of such courts and agree to waive any objection that such courts are an inconvenient forum.

10.8 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is or becomes or is deemed invalid, illegal or unenforceable under the applicable laws or regulations of any jurisdiction, either such provision shall be deemed amended to conform to such laws or regulations without materially altering the intentions of the parties and enforced accordingly, or it shall be stricken and the remainder of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.

10.9 Remedies. If Epic breaches any provision of these Terms, the damage, if any, caused to you thereby will not be irreparable or otherwise sufficient to entitle you to injunctive or other equitable relief with respect to any of Epic’s products and services. Your rights and remedies in any such event shall be strictly limited to the right, if any, to recover money damages in an action at law and to terminate these Terms in accordance with Section 9 of these Terms. You shall not be entitled by reason of any such breach to seek any injunctive or other equitable relief with respect to any of Epic’s products and services. All remedies, rights, undertakings, obligations and agreements contained in these Terms shall be cumulative and none thereof shall be in limitation.

 

11. Defined Terms.

In addition to the capitalized terms defined above, the following terms have these specified meanings as used in these Terms:

11.1 “Affiliate” means, with respect to Epic, any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with such Party, including (by way of example but not limited to) its sublicensees and subsidiaries.

11.2 “Application” means the completed information and materials you must provide to Epic to apply to participate in this Program. 

11.3 “Content” means (1) the assets, Islands, and other materials you create using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite tools, (2) the Islands you create using the Fortnite Creative tools, (3) all other materials that you create or provide using other Creators Tools (such as the Creator Portal), to the extent those materials comply with Epic’s policies.

11.4 “Creator Tools” means the development tools (including Unreal Editor for Fortnite and Fortnite Creative), systems, and services (including the Creator Portal, and the Creator Program web applications) made available by Epic that allow Creators to develop, modify, and distribute Content that may be published on Fortnite. 

11.5 “Digital Rights” means the limited rights in a Content (listed in Section 1) that you, through Epic, grant to Users who access your Content. 

11.6 “Epic,” “we,” “ours,” or “us” means:

1. If your primary residence (or primary place of business, if you are an Enterprise) is in the United States, Epic Games, Inc.; or
2. If your primary residence or primary place of business is not in the United States, (i) Epic Games Entertainment International GmbH, a limited liability company organized under the laws of Switzerland, if you are creating Content licensed by that entity or (ii) Epic Games Commerce GmbH, a limited liability company organized under the laws of Switzerland, if you are creating any other Content.

11.7 “Fortnite” means all content (including Islands), whether made available by Epic, its partners, its Affiliates or its Users, and offered via the gaming ecosystem and/or game client known as “Fortnite” irrespective of point of access, including all updates, expansions, and improvements, as well as all social features, extensions, public accounts, companion apps, and other official channels associated with the "Fortnite" brand or “Fortnite” co-branded Islands. 

 

11.8 “Islands” means content that represents a discrete consumable experience, created using the Creator Tools, that may be published on Fortnite. For clarity, such Islands may include but are not limited to content made by Epic, its Affiliates, partners, or Creators. 

11.9 “User” means any natural person, company, or other legal entity lawfully interacting with Fortnite pursuant to Epic’s policies.