Epic is adding its hyperrealistic MetaHumans to Unreal Editor for Fortnite

At GDC last year, Epic launched a robust new creative tool called the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). And this year, the company announced some major new features that are on the way for it. To start, the company’s MetaHumans — hyperrealistic human characters that can be animated using only an iPhone — will be available in UEFN beginning today. Epic says that users can import any characters made using the MetaHuman Creator tool and the MetaHuman Animator into UEFN, where they can then be used as NPCs in player-made games.

While MetaHumans are the highlight, a couple of other notable features are coming as well. Epic says that UEFN will be getting more camera options later this year, including a much-requested first-person perspective. Additionally, UEFN will be getting “physics sandbox gameplay,” which includes “the option to use physically-simulated characters in UEFN and Creative and simulate any static mesh.”

All of this news is part of Epic’s plan to turn Fortnite into more of a platform for games rather than a single title, with user-made titles making up a large part of that. Epic says that since 2023 more than 80,000 UEFN-built islands were published, joining first-party releases like Lego Fortnite and Fortnite Festival.