EXTRA-LOOP #3 — Mistborn, Monoliths & Microtransactions
September 2025 (Chapter 6 Season 4)
Hello! Welcome to Extra-Loop, a Fortnite newsletter dedicated to keeping all members of the community up to date on what’s fresh: both newcomers and veterans, as well as developers and players alike.
In our 3rd issue, you can:
GRAB A STORY SLICE…
…AND SOME CREATIVE COFFEE
A short interview: Appeler un chat 🐈 feat. FNAssist!
…and Around the World we go! 🪩
The Daft Punk Experience is almost here!
The iconic french duo Daft Punk has revolutionized the music industry with their peppy beats and future-forward aesthetic, since their debut in 1993.
In 2021, the duo disbanded on their own terms with a beautiful epilogue — which, in case you haven’t seen, now’s your chance for an even better view.
Since the start of our current Battle Royale season, the Island has been home to a strange Monolith beckoning us from the snowy hills. Many have speculated it could lead to a concert, as another french DJ, David Guetta, had been performing around the world with a similar theme; but this Monolith comes from another place and time.
The Daft Punk Experience opens on September 27th, accessible straight from the Battle Royale Island. The Monolith will first reveal an animated video featuring The Weeknd, a frequent collaborator of the band, encountering Daft Punk’s epilogue with the Island’s dear Drift.
Then, we’ll be transported to a Pyramid hub featuring five different rooms: each inspired by a different Daft Punk album or music video aesthetic.
For example, the iconic Around the World music video from 1997, directed by Michel Gondry, will be available for you to perform with your squad in LEGO form!
Look out for more details on Fortnite’s official blog post. For now, it seems to still be accessing its memories…
Mistborn: the movie not set in steel…
For those unfamiliar with the Mistborn franchise, so was I (up until recently). I’d always been aware that the works of Brandon Sanderson, a prolific american author, had been of great influence to Donald Mustard — former steward of the Fortnite storyline.
Their collaboration resulted in two novellas written by Sanderson for Infinity Blade, the franchise that made Mustard a household name in gaming.
Yet, my reading habits had turned to ash. That is, until I read Mistborn.
A spectacular fantasy tale about Vin, a common thief, struggling with the daunting world that surrounds her—and her first encounter with the artful mentor Kelsier, who might just Pull her into the light of greater good (by doing a heist, obviously).
The book has sold over 10 million copies and has not once been adapted to the big (or small) screen. Mustard teamed up with Sanderson to pitch a potential movie division to Epic Games, citing the success of other tech companies like Apple and Amazon in the streaming space. The first would-be movie? Mistborn.
Actors had been cast. Much had been prepared—but the movie never came to be. Mustard eventually left Epic right as the project wrapped up, which began development in 2018 and ended in 2023.
However, the creative has now joined the Russo Brothers in their production studio AGBO, currently making Avengers: Doomsday. Perhaps, hopefully for us fans of the series, Sanderson can negotiate the rights to them so that this project may (someday) see the light of day — the same that Vin once saw in Kelsier.
Microtransactions coming to UEFN
Oh boy.
Epic Games has recently announced that developers will soon be able to sell items directly from their Fortnite islands with V-Bucks. From December 2025 through 2026, developers will earn 100% of the revenue—however, after such period, that will fall to 50%.
Share of In-Game Sales Distributed to Creators
The above is a chart by Epic, showing a difficult comparison. No two UGC platforms are the same. If anything, the only thing they share are trends turned into mega profitable behemoths.
Roblox bases most of its revenue on in-game items: from consumables to permanent “game passes” (think VIP badges or an extra inventory slot). Considering such a practice coming to Fortnite, Epic Games’ CEO has previously stated that:
[…] we can build an economy that's better for players and that rewards creators more as a result of the increased player trust, and avoid falling into the pitfalls of the pay to win and the loot box mechanic games.
Fortnite has been mostly funded thanks to its cosmetic Shop, from which 40% of the revenue goes directly to paying creators and Epic’s own games in the current engagement-based system. However, something has clearly changed for Epic to even consider exposing their ecosystem and community to bad actors when offered with direct monetization.
There will also be a brand-new Sponsored Row in Discover. From December 2025 through 2026, it will also offer 100% of its generated revenue back into the engagement pool—falling to 75% thereafter.
This row will easily be dominated by either the top, most profitable games sinking their funds into ensuring they never leave our eyeballs—or games made by companies with equally-as-large budgets that all the marketing in the world can’t save from eventual irrelevance.
Anyway. Onto the good news!
Gone are the days where a YouTuber is the only marketing a game developer can have, if they can’t build a presence on social media.
Features like the Favorite and Follow buttons have slowly built up to this addition—which is most welcome for those looking to make Fortnite their second home.
The new Community Highlights row in Discover will feature recent posts, from both Epic and creators you know, as well as the ability to vote and comment. This will be critical for new games looking for feedback and to create long-lasting communities.
Last but not least, Fortnite continues on its chase to fit in as many phones as possible with Thin Client: download the Fortnite lobby and cosmetics you own, and nothing else. Pledge allegiance to the games you play most, while saving your device from cluttering.
This update has been shipped to mobile devices and is currently in the works for other platforms: check for updates here!
Appeler un chat 🐈 feat. FNAssist!
Today’s guest for our short interview segment is a staple of our community, and as calm as a cup of tea: FNAssist!
There is, indeed, a person behind such a machine. Consistent updates across all Epic-made games in Fortnite is not an easy task to keep hold of.
I’ve worked with him before on the YouTube channel Top5Gaming, which we’ve both written scripts for, speaking of lore and other things. Without further ado, enjoy our beefiest Appeler un chat yet!
How are you so consistent with your content? You're seemingly up to date on everything Fortnite.
Being a creator has been my full-time job for some time now, and I'm always grateful for that. It means I can take the passion I have for the game and continue to pump out content every single day, no matter what kind.
Whether it's an update downtime, a random hotfix, free rewards or even some live event to track in-game — I love to stay consistent with the stuff I cover. I guess it always helps to keep that attitude up when you truly love the game, even after 8 years Fortnite still has that spark for me.
You've probably learned a thing or two about game developers from peeking under the hood. Has your respect for their craft gone up the more you explore their work?
OH absolutely, the stuff these guys manage to pull off only gets more impressive the further you look. And that's from the understanding on my side, which barely scratches the surface of what the talent at Epic creates every day. Such SIMPLE things require so much more work than you'd think, and it's SO cool to always be able to peek inside at the machine and see how.
This is also why hitches will always happen, any game dev will agree that it truly is a round of whack-a-mole, you squash one bug, or fix one problem and somehow it'll break another completely unrelated thing — or, sometimes, it’s just simple human error; which isn't surprising given the sheer amount of things to manage and check every patch.
The people at Epic truly put in a lot to their work, not only to give us everything we got, but also break so many new boundaries in gaming that a lot of people often don't even notice, nothing but respect for them!
Lastly, what are your hopes for Fortnite as a platform, and do you see yourself remaining a creator for long?
I know Fortnite has steered in a different direction in the recent years, and that's something some people love, some dislike and others are sceptical of. Honestly, all of them are valid, especially in its current state. However, I think if Epic truly push on this, and ensure the community is heard with each step of the way that they can craft the platform they're looking for. People will ALWAYS come back to enjoy BR, but they need to get that cornerstone of being a platform out there by pushing more varied experiences, show that it's not just the main modes, and that there's more QUALITY UGC within the game and SUPPORT those who deserve it. If they succeed on that front, I think they can definitely make the home stretch.
As for remaining a creator - Till I'm 90!! As I’ve said, I still love what I do, and while some parts might not always feel the exact same [as before], I still find myself excited for every season, booting up the game daily and always staying invested with everything going on. A lot of creators shift as it fits to create content on other games simultaneously, such as the impending release of GTA VI, but that doesn't mean quitting Fortnite entirely. I aim to continue making Fortnite content for as long as people love to see it!
Phew, that wraps up our longest interview so far! That’s exactly what this space is for, though — hearing the years of wisdom which those that have populated your screens for just as long are able to provide.
Thank you for catching our third issue of Extra-Loop! This newsletter is especially curated for those always on the fly—who just can’t keep up with how fast the gaming world changes.
Please leave a comment should you have any feedback, and I will see you soon for Issue #4! Subscribe to get it sent straight to your inbox.
See you in the Loop. 🤍