He Got Cut From Epic. What He Built Next Changed Everything.

Lee Graham ran the UEFN Accelerator at Epic Games for six and a half years, helping major brands and game IPs enter Fortnite Creative and build for the creator economy. On March 24th, his Slack went down mid-Zoom. Everyone on the call knew what it meant before a word was said. By that afternoon he had been laid off alongside roughly a thousand colleagues. By that evening, he had already built something to help them.

This conversation covers what Lee learned at the intersection of brand strategy and UEFN, why he tells every studio entering this space to start small and build for real player feedback before spending serious money, and what Island Transactions mean for the economics of Fortnite Creative. Lee walks through the Awesome People List from the first Google Sheet to a full web app rebuilt in two days, the SVP of Talent at Rockstar who grabbed it the same afternoon to share with all her recruiters, and why Red Storm Entertainment picked up the same model after their own layoffs just days prior. People from the list are already in final rounds at top studios.

Lee closes with the story he clearly most wanted to tell. His stepson Noah has spent years learning to draw characters, build in Blender, work in UEFN, and code in Verse alongside him. Together they are building 20 Aliens, a tower defense game. The layoff opened a door neither of them expected: Noah could not publish islands or participate in creator payouts while Lee was at Epic. That changed the afternoon of the layoff. Lee also shares what he would tell anyone navigating a hard career transition right now. It is honest and worth hearing no matter what industry you are in.

Lee Graham LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averageguylee/ 

Discord: averageguylee 

Awesome People List: https://awesomepeoplelist.replit.app/?tag=Unreal+Engine+Fortnite 

Noah's Studio: https://offthex.io/ | https://www.fortnite.com/@offthex 

UGC Playbook: https://www.ugcplaybook.io/

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Twitter: https://www.x.com/immaturegamer

Brainrot skins hit the Fortnite item shop and a UEFN studio built the deal. Brendan Stock is the CEO of Chartis, the company behind over 45 brand integrations inside UEFN in a single year and the team that drove the Brainrot collab from a TikTok search all the way to the Fortnite item shop. This conversation starts with the thesis Brendan has been building around since day one: help creators go from hobbyist to professional. That vision took shape when he noticed early on that Sony once ran a UGC platform with solid tools and an existing player base and still could not survive because it failed to attract enough builders. In UGC, the real currency is not how many people are playing. It is how many people are building. That single insight shaped everything Chartis has done since, including putting creators on the cap table as actual owners rather than treating them as contractors.

Brendan breaks down how brand partnerships inside Fortnite actually work, why most brands come in with the wrong frame, and what the real odds look like for a custom game. He covers the Jason Statham Shelter roguelike built in five weeks over the holidays because the team was trusted to lead the creative, why creators with non-combat UEFN maps are sitting on some of the most brand-ready real estate on the platform, and how the Michael Buble collab became Buble's most viewed Instagram post of the year by turning a Christmas song into a game mechanic players could not stop talking about. He also gets into XP Financial, the service Chartis built to help UGC creators handle taxes and business structure before a surprise IRS bill does it for them.

Brendan closes with a bold prediction: Fortnite concurrent users trend upward by the end of 2026, mobile becomes a bigger growth driver than most people in this space are accounting for, and the next Mario or Pokemon level IP is going to come out of Fortnite or Roblox because that is where the attention already lives.

Vote in the first ever UEFN Community Awards here:

https://www.uefncommunityawards.com/

X: https://x.com/BrendanStock

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanstock/?skipRedirect=true

Chartis: https://www.chartis.gg

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Wertandrew is one of the most respected OG creators in Fortnite Creative and UEFN, known for building some of the most ambitious solo experiences in the space including Domus Mortem and Time Skip Chronicles. Matt sits down with Wert to get the unfiltered truth on what actually works in Fortnite Creative in 2026 and why most creators are getting it wrong.

In this episode they cover:

• Why discovery is an amplifier, not a shortcut, and what you actually need before it can help you
• The honest breakdown of Fortnite's new monetization systems and the premium model opportunity
• Why Verse is still a real barrier for designers and artists and what Epic needs to fix
• How to build retention at the creator level instead of just chasing map-level numbers
• What separates creators who ship consistently from those who never finish
• The mindset and lifestyle habits behind long-term longevity in UGC

Whether you are a Fortnite Creative developer, a UEFN builder, or just trying to figure out how to grow in this space, this one is packed.

Follow Wertandrew: 

X: https://x.com/Wertandrew 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Wertandrew

Don't hate, create.

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This week on Creative Juice, I sit down with Sleighted Sloth, one of the most respected tycoon creators in the UEFN space. Jon walked away from a six-year career in credit card app development to go all in on Fortnite Creative in 2024, and what happened next is genuinely impressive.

We cover the full journey, from his early days in mobile development to getting invited to a LEGO game jam in Denmark, landing in Epic Picks, and pulling in over 2 million V-bucks in a single picks run through in-island transactions. Jon shares his actual design philosophy behind some of the biggest tycoon maps in UEFN, why the first launch is the only launch that truly matters, how he blends PVP into a traditionally chill genre, and why a 100 V-buck jail mechanic became one of his best selling IAP items.

Whether you are building your first UEFN map or trying to figure out how to go full-time as a creator, Jon gives you the real playbook with no fluff.

Follow Sleighted Sloth: X: https://x.com/sleightedsloth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sleighted-sloth-a9851831b/

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Deepak Nair is one of the only people in the world who has worked inside Roblox, Epic Games (Fortnite Creative), and Meta Horizon Worlds. In this episode, he shares what he learned from all three ecosystems and holds nothing back.

We get into what platforms actually prioritize vs. what they tell creators, why most developer feedback never turns into real change, the habits that separate creators who last from creators who burn out, how solo devs can outperform big studios, and why building your own community outside the platform is no longer optional.

Deepak also breaks down the real timeline to becoming a top developer (it took roughly 8 years on Roblox), why copying games keeps you behind, and what healthy communication between platforms and creators actually looks like.

If you're building games on any UGC platform or thinking about getting started, this is one of the most honest conversations you'll hear about how the industry really works.

Follow Deepak: 

X/Twitter: https://x.com/brown_lantern 

Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePixelPushers 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepaknair3/

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Twitter: https://www.x.com/immaturegamer

Brian Grayson has seen the industry from nearly every angle.

He started in law, helped scale Hi-Rez Studios during the growth of Smite and Paladins, led publishing and R&D initiatives, and now applies those lessons inside Fortnite through Ghost Gaming.

In this conversation, we unpack what AAA studios understand about live service development that many creators overlook. Brian explains why retention is the core signal of product quality, why Day 1 retention is brutally hard to fix, and how data should guide decisions without being emotional. We also discuss sunk cost fallacy, why copying rarely wins inside the same ecosystem, and how to evaluate real product market fit in UEFN.

If you are serious about building sustainable games inside Fortnite or running a studio in today’s market, this episode delivers clear, practical insight from someone who has operated at scale.

Guest Links:

Brian Grayson
X: https://x.com/Lionheart
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsgrayson

Ghost Gaming
Website: https://ghostgaming.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/ghostgaming

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PixelatedDreamz is a Fortnite and UEFN environment artist who has quietly built one of the strongest freelance careers in the ecosystem. Starting from Creative 1.0 and early Minecraft builds, he found his niche in environments, landscapes, and materials, and turned that focus into over 110 paid commissions in a single year.

In this episode, we talk about the moment that changed his path, why good-looking maps still fail without marketing, how social media became his main source of work, and what new creators misunderstand about getting hired. PixelatedDreamz also shares his approach to learning complex tools, optimizing large environments, building portfolios, and setting boundaries to avoid burnout.

This is a grounded conversation about specialization, consistency, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable career inside Fortnite and UEFN.

Guest: PixelatedDreamz
 https://x.com/PixelatedDreamz

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If you’ve ever shipped a UEFN map you genuinely believed in, but Discovery never gave it a real shot, this episode is for you.

I’m joined by Graeme Bull, one of the most trusted educators in the UEFN and Verse space, to break down what actually holds creators back long term. We talk about the biggest misconception new UEFN developers walk in with, why great games can sit “dead” for months and suddenly pop off, and how to think about discovery, thumbnails, and marketing without spiraling into excuses.

We also go deep on scale, why maps often start breaking as they grow, what creators should plan ahead for (and what they shouldn’t), plus Graeme’s advice on learning UEFN without getting overwhelmed.

Guest links:
Graeme Bull on X: https://x.com/GraemeBullX
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GraemeBull
Discord: discord.gg/z8WHrNr8rp

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In this episode of The Creative Juice Podcast, I sit down with GameDevMicah to break down what it actually takes to push Unreal Engine and UEFN beyond the obvious.

We dig into real world optimization mistakes, common performance traps creators fall into, and how systems like instancing, GPU workflows, and destruction can scale when used correctly. Micah also shares why building in public matters, how devlogs can accelerate learning and trust, and what most creators misunderstand about performance in Unreal.

If you are building in Unreal Engine or UEFN and want to create more ambitious experiences without breaking your game, this episode is a must listen.

Shout outs and links
Discord: gamedevmicah
Website: https://aggressivemastery.com/
X: https://x.com/GameDevMicah
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micahberninghausen/

Available on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Eddie Benson and Joel Bestart, Co-Founders of Team Gauntlet, join the podcast to share the real story behind Kraken and how a small team built one of Fortnite’s most successful long-form UEFN experiences.

We unpack what happened before Kraken broke through, how early community feedback shaped the game, and why progression and retention mattered more than chasing short-term Discovery spikes. Eddie and Joel also break down how they divide responsibilities as a small studio, ship ambitious updates, and avoid spreading themselves too thin.

The conversation also dives into their Disney collaboration on Percy Jackson, what surprised them about working with a major IP, and how a three-person team handled expectations that felt closer to AAA than UGC. This episode is packed with honest lessons for creators, developers, and studios building inside Fortnite.

Guest and Studio Links

Eddie Benson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddiebenson/
X: https://x.com/zebs_fn

Joel Bestart
X: https://x.com/joelbestart

Team Gauntlet
X: https://x.com/studio_gauntlet
Discord: https://discord.gg/krakenbossfight
Website: https://gauntletfn.com/

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