Step-by-Step Guide: How to Publish a Map in Fortnite
Fortnite, the popular online game developed by Epic Games, offers players the opportunity to create their own maps and share them with the community.
We will guide you through the steps of creating, testing, and submitting your map to Epic Games.
Learn about the requirements for publishing a map, what happens after you submit it, and how you can promote your published map within the game.
If you’re ready to showcase your creativity to the Fortnite world, keep on reading!
Contents
Key Takeaways:
What Is Fortnite?
What Is Fortnite? Fortnite is a free-to-play game developed and published by Epic Games. It was initially released in 2017 for Windows, macOS, PlayStation, and Xbox and later that year for iOS. In 2018, it was released for Android then the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 5 in 2021.
Fortnite’s story takes place on an island where a commander (the player) and their squad are attempting to defeat the Husks, zombie-like creatures. In the game’s most popular mode, Battle Royale, up to 100 players engage in a violent battle with the objective of staying alive and being the last person or team standing.
Sandbox Mode and Creative Mode allow players to construct or play in a shared virtual universe. Save the World mode (however it is not available on the Nintendo Switch, iOS, or Android Devices) has players joining forces to construct a fortress to protect survivors from territorial beings known as Mist monsters.
Now, Save the World is not available to any player. The map is the primary aspect of Fortnite’s universe with 14 major and dozens of minor locations. Fortnite is classified as an action-adventure and first-person shooter game with the capability for third-person display. In terms of entertainment, Fortnite has received praise for its creative and humorous aesthetic. The game’s integration of storytelling is one of its prominent qualities, as is the intricate grid of interconnecting locations throughout the map.
Bas Smit actively plays Fortnite as well as his family and notes the game’s unique combination of ‘combat survival Battle Royale’ with ‘open-world exploration’ as his reason for playing.
What Are Maps in Fortnite?
Maps in Fortnite refer to the user-created islands on which you play in Creative Mode. You can design them or obtain them from other players and play on them and with others. Islands maximize at 2048 by 2048 tiles. They can be flat, hilly, cavernous, or whatever terrain you dream up which makes them great for a host of different games.
How To Publish A Map In Fortnite?
Maps in Fortnite can be published to the Creative Hub or set as the island of the community hub. There is no direct way to publish maps to the islands of the Fortnite Discovery Hub. Maps are published by selecting the Publish button on the Creative Server only.
The steps for publishing a map in Fortnite are:
- Enter the island of your choice in Creative mode
- Step on the Island Finder terminal on your right after arriving on the island to exit into the normal Creative Hub island
- Walk forward and enter the room with the big Rift portal
- Turn right to enter into the island’s Publish area, where you can see information about the island you are currently on
- Select Publish to go to select Time Trial destinations
Within the Map Information Settings
- Set the Island Image
- Set the Island Card
- Set the Main GameMode
- Set the Rating
- Enter a Map Description
Note there are costs associated with publishing a map in Fortnite. Publishing a map costs 1000 V Bucks for the first island, with subsequent islands costing 100. There is a tax of 50% of all individual earnings that are earned from the completed play of time trials on a published island.
Step 1: Create Your Map
The first step to publishing a map in Fortnite is to create your map. This can be done either in Creative Mode by carving the terrain how you like and soon painting it with different materials or by creating and then packaging your own map Island Code using Unreal Editor.
Creative Mode is a technology within Fornite which allows players to design their own mini-games, objectives, and general experiences which users can enjoy on their own or with friends. In theory, the Fortnite Creative Mode could do many things that a game-making tool like Unreal Engine does, but as of now it is limited.
If you want to create an advanced island design, you will need to use newer tools and process them into Fortnite rather than using the older Fortnite Creative Mode.
Step 2: Test Your Map
After adding this metadata, follow the directions to Match and publish your island. When it asks you to lock your map, select the obvious answer of Yes. This ensures that other people cannot edit your map while it is being tested. Click Accept and publish.
To test your map, click the Play button in the FILE tab. Ensure the privacy to Island is set to all players and click the Start game button. In creative mode, open the map by pressing E on the Featured rift. Select your map, and return to the game. Players who wish to use your map will be able to search for it. That is not something you need to set up yourself. Players will follow the same steps as you to bring up the Featured rift, select your island, and quickly join your map as a favorite to play on it later. Be sure to let players know in your map code text to search for the featured rift map.
Testing is best done if you already have a community you interact with on social media.
Step 3: Submit Your Map To Epic Games
At this moment, Epic Games is NOT accepting maps from the community due to the Rockstar Creative trademark suit. However, they have already announced that they plan to open it up via the Support-A-Creator program in the future. They have created an Interest Form in the meantime, you are able to fill this out in preparation.
The way in which you will be able to submit maps is as follows. You can use the Epic Games Publisher for Fortnite to submit your island. First, subscribe for the Epic Games newsletter to stay informed. When they are ready to accept maps, load your map into Fortnite Creative mode, and choose to Submit for Follow Freatures from the settings.
Interested in Developing a map for a game that is accepting submissions? Call of Duty Cold War is accepting map submissions now. To find more information look into the Official Call of Duty Blog articles.
What Are The Requirements For Publishing A Map In Fortnite?
The two requirements for publishing a map in Fortnite are that the creator must be at least 13 years old and have a creator code. This is according to the Fortnite Creator End User License Agreement (EULA).
Players can sign up for a creator code once they have spent at least 1000 V-Bucks in-game. By using the creator code, they are added to the pre-approved creators list that can obtain special permissions for publishing maps. Creators receive a portion of any V-Bucks transactions they help generate, and there are other benefits as well.
The ability to publish a map is used by Fortnite’s Creative mode. Creative mode was launched in Season 7 of Chapter 1 and allows players to design their own game modes, levels, and experiences — similar to Minecraft game modes. In Creative mode, players can map islands and play directly against friends or other selected members of the community.
Must Be Original Content
The first requirement for a map to be published in Fortnite is that it must be original content. This means the map must not have appeared elsewhere on the Web, not be a modification of a previously published map, and must not be a copy of a map from a previous Fortnite season.
The definition of original when it comes to Fortnite maps is fairly narrow, but a number of experienced map makers have had their content rejected or map published in Fortnite revoked because they either used a previously known map or were accused of stealing ideas. In fairness, many of the discipline officials might not know the extent of an original map, and mere similarities are typically not enough to show copying.
If one is unclear, one can ask Epic Games by creating a case on their support website. If they approve, the support team will pass to the next step and work with you further on publication. If they disapprove, they will let you know, but will generally not advise you what you need to do to get approval. From there you will have to take your best approach to making a map they will approve.
Must Follow Fortnite’s Code of Conduct
Creators should publish maps in Fortnite only if they can follow Fortnite’s code of conduct, Exhibit A of which is the Individual conduct Policy of Epic Games. This means not behaving in or building sexually explicit, dangerous, illegal, discriminatory, or harassing ways. Plus its contracts and paperwork, Team Radiant requires her creators to agree to these standards as a condition of becoming a creator on the MapMakers Discord Server.
Must Be Appropriate for All Ages
All Fortnite maps must be appropriate for all ages. By publishing a Fortnite Creative map, you are submitting content that thousands of other players, especially children, will be able to experience. This is due to Fortnite’s status as a free-to-play game with a massive child and teen user base.
Whether it is a deathrun with a superhero theme, a Christmas-themed hide-and-seek, an educational world, or an obstacle course set in a shop, all of these published maps are accessed and viewed by many players. This is also explicitly stated in Epic Games’ Fortnite Community Creation Policy, meaning any maps not following this standard will be taken down from the system.
Must Not Contain Glitches or Exploits
All maps submitted to Fortnite’s Creative Mode hub are tested by the feedback team before being posted to ensure they contain no glitches or exploits. Maps that show potential or have no blatant issues are sent to the quality assurance team for further testing.
The full extent of these maps are inspected to search for any player exploits or game breaking issues that could damage the Fortnite Battle Royale experience. All maps go through the same process and no logs are kept for any individual maps that are submitted.
If there are issues found, Fornite’s community creation team reaches out to the flagged creator and gives them a chance to correct the issue. If the creator desires promotion, the creator must fix the issue before their map can be considered for the promotion process.
What Happens After Submitting A Map?
After submitting a map, Epic Games support will send you an accept/decline email. This will inform you that Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or iOS players can access and publish your map. If you are declined, the email will list any feedback for you to consider for your next map submission. Accepted maps will appear in the Featured section of the Fortnite Creative Hub within 3 weeks of approval. If it does not, contact the Fortnite Creative Hotline. June 2019’s post by Epic Games on Reddit gives an example of the status of different types of map publishing requests. Gallery Swap and Cliffs of Calamity are both acceptable, but Sea of Cubics is still in progress.
Epic Games Reviews Your Map
After creating a map and submitting it on the Support a Creator platform, Epic Games collects some data and then reviews the file. The review process is not very transparent and the official information available about it is quite broad.
The key components used during the review process include game performance, content quality, and appropriate categorization of content.
Your map must be uploaded and submitted in a final version for review. Getting tissues made after submission can hurt your chances and will make for a longer review period according to firemonkey, a former moderator on the Epic Games Fortnite forums.
When your application is accepted, you can expect an approval email within 2-7 business days and for it to appear in the Featured section of the Fortnite map list for a few weeks.
When your application is denied, it is usually for the following reasons:
- Non-original, copyrighted content
- Harassment or offensive language and/or content
- Nonfunctional or incomplete submission materials
- Nonfunctional asset or map in the submitted materials
Map Gets Added To Creative Mode
The process of getting your map added to Fortnite’s Creative Mode is not entirely clear, nor is it guaranteed. It appears that map builders can only express interest in this and then hope to be selected. Should the map be accepted, Fortnite will provide active notice to the Builder on how to tell their previously an exclusive Creative experience, meaning fewer external spreads or signed permits for external publishing teams.
The goal of Creative Mode is to let fans be the designers. Fortnite’s goal is to ensure that only the best original designs are what end up on Creative.
You Receive A Support-A-Creator Code
When you have received approval and been selected for an Epic game support-a-creator code, you can publish a Fornite map and have it attributed to your account in constructor. New codes can be requested and should be provided within a month if you meet these conditions. The support-a-creator code allows creators to earn a 5% commission on in-game items purchased using their code which can be valuable for creators who want to make money off their map.
How To Promote Your Published Map In Fortnite?
Fortnite lets you promote your published map using social media or by using the #FortniteMaps function in Creative. To promote your Fortnite map successfully, remember to visit Fortnite’s website to submit your map, share your submission with all your followers on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Discord to have them storm the forts, and get your map caught in the FortniteMayhem zone according to this map’s creator Tiktak.
To promote your map, visit Fortnite’s website. Their website has a Publish Channel which is a perfect way to push your offering. Assuming that Epic likes what you have to offer, your map could end up on the Epic Creations Quad Launcher. Releasing your map and having a community service for all players to use is a free way to promote it. Many possibilities to turn that service-start to your advantage after you have received your promotional Welcome Package!
The simplest way to publish a map in Fortnite is to have other people do it for you. Certain social media that can link to phones and consoles will provide a link to install the app on that device automatically. Very often these links are region-specific, such as Picuki links that go directly to an iOS app called Picuki, to help the readers in that region. For example, if you have a map available in an Epic Creator Code, then you can share that code on social media, either directly or by linking to the install location on devices other than desktop computers.
It is quite easy on Instagram as well. When you share a museum or a store, a call-to-action in your description and comments can let people know they can use their time and come and explore the store or museum in Fortnite. You can also display the Fortnite code if it is a store or even create map previews that show interesting points to explore on your island. If you are sharing an article about your island that is not on Twitter, link to it with a tweet about the article. Use the trending hashtag #FortniteIsland so other island creators will find it. It is helpful to use these as guides because each industry and scenario is different.
Collaborate With Other Creators
Collaborating with other creators to publish maps in Fortnite is another major benefit of the alive-and-well Creative Mode community. Collaboration helps reach an even larger audience, further boosting a map’s visibility. Depending on the size of the collaborators’ existing followings and the recognition they receive from Epic, the map might even have a chance of being featured despite the foreground-is-falling-away shortage at the moment.
Some popular Fortnite Creative tips for how to collaborate include creating a morning of the dead movie by joining a friend’s map making a side-by-side duplication of a killer shark, working together on making a map even better like Jird, and even collaborating by submitting on behalf of someone who doesn’t have their map code like Geeky Jones.
An example of collaboration is the Folklore Forest Labyrinth FnPvP map v.1 by ToggleTwo and MiguelMKR1. This solo versus map has two main challenges. The first one demands time, as you won’t be able to cheat. The second one will take a lot of mayhem.
Participate In Fortnite Events
Participating in Fortnite federations, official game trials, local epic events, fan events in Fortnite creative, in person tournaments on Fortnite, and more can give rise to the creation of your own Fortnite map. If it is well made and becomes popular, the map can become shared with the public and become a published public Fortnite map.
Fans have created many generations of hide and seek Fortnite maps, deathrun maps, parkour maps, etc. especially in creative. These creations have organized into mold for standardized, competitive events where content creators from the Fortnite community can submit their best maps to be used by everyone else. A popular example of such organizations is Fortnite Creative League (FCL), where custom lobbies of up to 8v8 in Fortnite Creative are shared regularly. Another example is the organization of fortnite-fan events and tournaments by the company War Legend. They focus not only on providing Fortnite fans an outlet for their enthusiasm, but also introducing the game to new players and encouraging the development of healthy competition.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
What is the process for publishing a map in Fortnite?
To publish a map in Fortnite, you will need to follow a few simple steps.
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
Can anyone publish a map in Fortnite?
Yes, anyone with a valid Epic Games account can publish a map in Fortnite.
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
What are the requirements for publishing a map in Fortnite?
To publish a map in Fortnite, you will need to have a creative code for your map, as well as a description and screenshots for players to see.
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
Can I publish a map on any platform?
Yes, you can publish a map on any platform where Fortnite is available, including PC, console, and mobile devices.
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
Is there a limit to how many maps I can publish in Fortnite?
No, there is no limit to how many maps you can publish in Fortnite. However, it is recommended to only publish high-quality maps to avoid cluttering the community.
How to Publish a Map in Fortnite?
How long does it take for a map to be published in Fortnite?
It typically takes a few days for a map to be reviewed and published in Fortnite. However, if there are any issues with your map, it may take longer.
