Hello! I’m the creator of the Fortnite Island PokerNite.
My island was originally published way back in May, 2023. As you can probably tell from the name, the game is based on Poker, and allows players to play Texas Hold 'em Poker against other players or AI. It does NOT allow any sort of “real” gambling, there is no real betting or anything shady like trying to lure players to other sites for real world gambling It’s just poker, in Fortnite. I love playing Poker, and I love Fortnite, and that’s why I made the game. There’s a lot of other big name games (Read Dead Redemption comes to mind) where there is a Poker minigame, so it didn’t seem to me like a big deal, just a fun addition.
When I first published the game, it was approved without issue and in fact when I posted about the release on Twitter (I guess X now), I even had a couple Epic employees responding to detractors saying the game wouldn’t be allowed because it had gambling. (Again, it has no real money gambling, it’s just numbers on a screen.)
Recently, I was trying to update the game to fix some issues introduced by Fortnite updates, and ran into a really annoying bug related to how the game was released very early on in UEFN’s lifecycle. (Details Here) That issue is still unresolved, and because I was hoping to show more people the game this week at UnrealFest 2024 in Seattle, I took the hard choice to rebuild the entire game with a new Island Codd, since that seems to be the only way around my issue.
Here’s my problem…I got it done, and even added some new functionality like more camera options and such, and a whole new environment for the game to take place in. Then I went to publish…and got rejected, because apparrently there has been a change to the UEFN Creator Rules that now prohibit any game that simulates casino like activities. (Island Creator Rules Section 1.11)
So here’s my question…or a couple of questions.
First, does anyone know when this change happened? I was able to find copies of the original rules, which used to state that real money gambling was prohibitied, but you could still do card games that didn’t actually involve real gambling.
Old Version of Rule:
I’m not trying to circumvent any rules here. Obviously I should have probably been saving a link to that rules page and checking it weekly or at least before doing any significant work on the game. But as I said, when I first released the language was different and I even had post from Epic saying my game was allowed and that it looked great.
So…Who do I talk to to better understand the rules? Is there any way to get a Poker game approved? (NOTE: I’m not looking for a way to cheat or bypass the rules, I’m just trying to understand them better. ) Poker is a game played in homes around the world…I actually never play in casinos, I just play for fun. Is it possible to rebrand the game as “Neigborhood PokerNIte” or something to make it clear that I’m not talking about casino poker, just friends getting together for some cards?
I also did some quick searches, and at least as of a couple days ago, there ARE other Poker-themed games in Fortnite Creative. Mine is better, obviously (heh), but there are people with published games out there that somehow got past the rules. And like I said, I’m not looking to simulate real gambling, I’m just trying to make a fun Fortnite activity that involves no real money or real casino activity.
I would love to chat with someone at Epic regarding this so I can better understand how to proceed. Even if that means just voting for a change to the rules…is there an official process for feedback on those rules?
FYI, I am here in Seattle for UNrealFest 2024, so if anyone @EpicGames is available to talk to regarding how to deal with this, please message me or let me know where I can contact you.
In short…I would love to get this game available to a large audiense. People that have played it have said they loved it, and it was a real challenge to build and make work. But now I’m at the point that I either have to abandon it and move on to something else, or get some clarity on how to avoid clashing with the rules. Any help would be appreciated.