Ask Epic Anything: Creator Portal and IARC | October 11, 2023 at 11:00 AM ET

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@LetKyle

3} Under the question asking for 2 emails, is this for everyone or is one sufficient? Because while testing before the AMA on one of my creations it only required 1.

You can choose to only provide a single email address for both IARC transactional emails and public customer support. However, be advised that the secondary email address is expected to be a public-facing email address.

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@DimensionDragon

I tried doing the rating for a Fortnite Creative Horror map of mine since the IARC was released for us creators, but now my map will be unavailable everywhere except in North America… And the reason being listed is because it’s horror. I had no issues with my map being available globally before, so this is really concerning. I’m wondering if I’m just misunderstanding the checklist in the rating system, or if horror is really unallowed in Fortnite for Europe (as an example)?

Depending on the degree and frequency of horror elements in your game, you may receive a rating that is not allowable in Fortnite in some regions. We encourage you to thoroughly read and understand the help text and view the examples in the tooltips of the IARC questionnaire to ensure you are responding to the questionnaire accurately for your island. We will be working to share additional guidance on this category.

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@eatyoushay

Question: With the new IARC questionnaire in play, how do we define ‘violence’ in Fortnite? Especially when it comes to weapons, what’s the plan for handling this classification? All of my games have been previously made to be all age friendly but now, even my Prop Hunts feel like they’re at risk of being blocked from half the Fortnite player base.

While the presence of weapons alone are not necessarily violent, the context in which weapons are used in gameplay matters greatly to the degree of violence in an experience. There are many different questions in the Violence / Gore section of the questionnaire. By answering all of these questions, you will be able to give granular answers about the degree of violence in your island.

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@Flak

• Should islands such as Art (Images) not be classified or not? Should unlisted islands be graded or not? If all is well, the islands won’t be removed and the images won’t be deleted?

Approved publication indicates that Fortnite moderation has reviewed and approved the classification. Participating IARC rating authorities periodically check island content to ensure that the correct rating was applied and may make changes to the rating after the island has been published.

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@Flak

1. Not a question, but Europe has pegi 16 when something is supposed to be 12 like a gun game or prop unt. Others (Except in certain countries) are 12 and Europe is 16, whereas Fortnite is pegi 12 in Europe.

The context of gameplay in your prop hunt or gun game matters. In cases where the style of violence is cartoonish, and reactions to violence are unrealistic, the ratings for that violence will be less mature. We encourage you to read all help text and examples to find the answer that best describes your island. Here is the help text specifically for the question about defenseless characters being injured or killed:

Innocent characters are defined as bystanders that are not necessarily involved in the game’s objective. The uninvolved characters must be visibly vulnerable to the attacks by either being permanently injured or killed. If the game actively encourages the killing of defenseless characters, this aspect must always be confirmed with “Yes.” This also includes any mass killings of innocent characters, such as where groups of characters are killed or injured at random for no apparent reason and deals with themes such as the killing of pedestrians on the street, shoppers in a shopping arcade, or children in a school.

These actions occur “without consequences” when the perpetrator is able to commit them without penalty or drawback. These actions occur “with consequences” when something negative occurs to the perpetrator (e.g., the game restarts after shooting a civilian, police arrest a character after the character drives through and kills a crowd of bystanders).

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@Poke681

By delisted do you just mean delisted from discovery? So players would still be able to access it from Island Code/MM Portal? Or will it be inaccessible until the questionnaire is submitted?

Islands that do not receive a rating by November 14 will be inaccessible to players. This includies via link code, Match Making portals and being removed from Discover,

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@latundaPC

Is Fortnite voice chat moderated? How does it work? Who moderates the voice chat?

Fortnite voice chat is not currently moderated, the IARC Overview is correct.

[gwynnie.wienecke]

@krisp

1. Horror games exceed Fortnite’s maximum rating everywhere but in Brazil &North America when the horror themes occur “often”. Does that mean Horror experiences are not allowed on Fortnite?

Depending on the degree and frequency of horror elements in your game, you may receive a rating that is not allowable in Fortnite in some regions. We encourage you to thoroughly read and understand the help text and view the examples in the tooltips of the IARC questionnaire to ensure you are responding to the questionnaire accurately for your island.

[Flak]

Thank you so much for all of your thoughtful questions! We’re looking forward to seeing you in our next AMA.

@gwynnie.wienecke will be answering some more questions about IARC, so keep watching!

[gwynnie.wienecke]

Thanks everyone for the great questions! I’ll be answering more in the coming days, and I’m looking to more AMAs in the future!

[eclarkson (horsegirl)]

Thanks for all the great questions everyone, we really appreciate your interest and feedback so keep them coming here on the forum

[K.warn (Kyle Warneck)]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the time and thoughtfulness. This community is amazing.