Astral retweeted
Let's hope Epic come up with a good solution. We all just want the platform to succeed and show decent games! I want to be able to find fun things to play in discover again!
We read every mention and DM, even when we can’t reply to all of them. Discover has more room to improve, and we’re on it. We've heard the feedback on providing additional surfaces and improving top 10, we hope to have something out soon.
We're 100% committed to placing the great games you guys build in front of the right audience.
Astral retweeted
The complaints are now backed up by data!
FN360s new explore section also highlights just how static all the rows are too. How can anyone break through in this system?
fn360.gg/explore?list=top10-…
I tracked every new Fortnite map that hit the NEW row from Aug 31 to Oct 23. (20,000+ maps, hour by hour.)
How a launch goes: → ~40 minutes in NEW → players spike, then leave → 1 in 4 maps lands in a genre row ~2 hours after the spike, when most of the players are already gone → genre rows sort by live players, so it drops out again within hours
Epic's own docs say: "Islands that perform well graduate from the testing pipeline."
So I checked.
I took the new maps that performed well by Epic's own stats: top 25% for playtime, favorites and recommendations, launched with 100+ players, no Sponsored. 167 maps. All of them dead within a week.
Good engagement does help early. New maps in the top 25% for playtime, favorites and recommendations kept their players to day 3 more often. By day 7 that edge is gone.
Discover doesn't graduate new maps. It sorts the ones that already have players. @FNCreate @HaroldAtEpic
There is so much more I can say which makes things even worse.
Astral retweeted
I tracked every new Fortnite map that hit the NEW row from Aug 31 to Oct 23. (20,000+ maps, hour by hour.)
How a launch goes: → ~40 minutes in NEW → players spike, then leave → 1 in 4 maps lands in a genre row ~2 hours after the spike, when most of the players are already gone → genre rows sort by live players, so it drops out again within hours
Epic's own docs say: "Islands that perform well graduate from the testing pipeline."
So I checked.
I took the new maps that performed well by Epic's own stats: top 25% for playtime, favorites and recommendations, launched with 100+ players, no Sponsored. 167 maps. All of them dead within a week.
Good engagement does help early. New maps in the top 25% for playtime, favorites and recommendations kept their players to day 3 more often. By day 7 that edge is gone.
Discover doesn't graduate new maps. It sorts the ones that already have players. @FNCreate @HaroldAtEpic
There is so much more I can say which makes things even worse.
Astral retweeted
Hey @TimSweeneyEpic, @FNCreate
I've been creating Fortnite maps since 2023, and UEFN has genuinely changed my life and my family's life. I'll always be grateful to Epic Games for giving creators like me this opportunity.
With the old Discover system, even small creators had a fair chance to succeed. I understand the changes were meant to improve Discover and reduce spam, but unfortunately, the new system has made it much harder for independent creators to reach players.
Right now, it feels like most exposure comes from Epic's Picks, sponsored rows, or already established creators. For someone without a large following or a marketing budget, it's extremely difficult to compete.
I'm not asking for guaranteed success. I just hope every creator has a fair chance to get their maps discovered again.
I truly appreciate everything Epic has done for us, and I hope you'll consider improving Discover for independent creators.
Astral retweeted
I’m convinced this was peak discovery. You had New and Updated + New and Top Rated, then if your map performed well you could climb through Gaining Traction → Trending → People Love → Homebar. Felt like there was a clear path to the top.
Astral retweeted
We've reached a point where either Epic starts listening to creators, or most creators will move to other platforms like Roblox, where discovery rows such as "New Trending" are extremely important.
In the end, only the top 10–20 teams will remain, while all the other high-quality studios will have left, tired of the constant changes that keep favoring the same maps.
Every change to Discover seems increasingly designed to benefit already established maps, while rows like "Updated," "Top Rated," "New Top Rated" ecc, have all been gradually removed over time.
What's next? Are we going to remove the "New" row too?
Astral retweeted
I have a challenge for @FNCreate…
If you actually believe in your product and genuinely think Discover is working, prove it.
Have Epic host an internal game jam where your own developers create UEFN experiences and release them just like the rest of us.
No forced Epic promotion. No special placement. No Sponsored Discover. No preferential treatment.
Just your games, competing organically in Discover alongside everyone else’s.
Let’s see how well your own projects perform when they’re subjected to the exact same system you’ve been telling creators is working.
If Discover truly rewards quality experiences, you should have nothing to worry about.
Astral retweeted
Here's a breakdown of the time and investment in Break and Steal Eggs, along with the additional investment we had planned before the game was removed from Discover tabs.
- Sponsored row: $5,400
- Asset costs: $1,100
- Total spent: $6,500
- Time invested: 20 days of work (13 updates)
Additional investment planned: $4,000
Throughout this period, we've done live events and boss fights, built an active community, and achieved strong metrics. We were committed to improving this game but discover completely kicked us out with no support.
We also planned a streamer campaign to attract more players to our game and Fortnite. However, after the game was removed from Discover tabs, we decided to stop further investment and time.
We are sharing our experience to show how challenging it has become to gain and maintain exposure in discover, even with consistent updates, investment, strong metrics, and an engaged community. We've concluded that it's more so of a luck based system rather than meeting expected metrics or we're not getting enough data. #UEFN
Astral retweeted
I wouldn't even say the discover system is luck based, there is just no where to go anymore. Theres literally one tab now which is the genre u pick. Back in the day there was like 7 good tabs u could go on and the old collections system u could sit on and average 200-300 players.
Astral retweeted
The current most frustrating thing about discover. I'd still love to see an example of a map which made it into the top 10 and maintained players using only the 10 minutes in new row and no sponsored/epic feature.
Until there are multiple examples of this, discover is failing.
Astral retweeted
Top 10 needs to go. Bring back trending
I'm already bored with the Top 10 games.
Tell me about some other fun games.
It's so annoying, it's the same ones every day.
That's why you guys can't beat Roblox.
@FNCreate @FortniteStatus
Astral retweeted
I'm already bored with the Top 10 games.
Tell me about some other fun games.
It's so annoying, it's the same ones every day.
That's why you guys can't beat Roblox.
@FNCreate @FortniteStatus
Astral retweeted
The genre rows are mostly sorted by CCU so how does this actually help in practice?
Can you perhaps give us a case study of a game launched in the past 12 months that grew organically from the new row (without epics picks or sponsored) to reach top 6 of any of these genre rows?
Astral retweeted
It’s good for Tim to talk about all this publicly. Us devs have been in the trenches being assaulted by AI haters in games. The discussion is over. Stop fighting it. No one is lesser because of it. Let’s make games and stop attaching morals to how they are made. People just want to create. Let us cook.
Astral retweeted
The comments on this post are proof that 80% of AI haters have no real intentions beyond spreading negativity and hatred. They’ll ignore any real improvement or problems just to stay mad.
What do you mean you’d rather have a launcher that’s slower?!
We vibe coded the Epic Games Launcher to be faster than the other guy.
Don't believe us? Test it out for yourself in Preview:
launcher.epicgames.com
Astral retweeted
The only people cynical are the ones who haven’t used Opus 5.5 or Astra for unreal coding. It’s incredible.
Astral retweeted
i'm glad that epic still uses AI Regardless of all the negitivity. AI is here to stay Whether you like it or not and if you were smart you would be using it as a Tool aswell.
Astral retweeted
I dont know.. the first and second year of uefn i remember we could publish a game and get rewarded for our work, giving us the motivation to continue and work harder. Now it feels like we are blocked from Discovery, idk. @FNCreate @HaroldAtEpic @alexbaileync #uefn
Astral retweeted
@TimSweeneyEpic @FNCreate
Verbatim, Epic, "Fortnite Discover: Your Questions Answered" (fortnite.com, updated Aug 13, 2024): "We don't give extra weight or preference to any particular island or creator"
Sweeney, Digiday Q&A at Unreal Fest 2025 (published June 9, 2025): Fortnite is "the most effective and fair economy that's ever been seen in gaming"
How come a new account with a new game is eligible to get the highest by Epic given discovery place?
Aka THE BANNER
Would love to know how to apply for this! Cheers.
