Summary
Does the Discover algorithm always index every published map at least once — even briefly — to gauge performance?
Here are some relevant details about my map:
Published 3 days ago
93 players in 24 hours, through my own external promotion (YouTube Shorts, TikTok posts, and livestreams)
30% CTR, which I understand is significantly above average for external traffic (typically 10–19%)
786 total impressions, which appear to be from direct links or search, not from Discover
3-player peak, all from external sources
No visible Discover tab placement, not even briefly
I’ve read several posts from the community suggesting that every map gets at least a short testing window on Discover to determine if it should be surfaced to more players. However, based on my data and tracking, it doesn’t seem like that happened with my map.
If a map can be skipped entirely without a testing window, it would be helpful for creators to know that upfront — especially when putting significant time and effort (6+ months) into publishing high-quality experiences.
Could someone from Epic or the community clarify:
Is there a guaranteed indexing period for each new map?
What are the criteria that determine if a map is tested or shown on Discover?
Thank you in advance for your time and any insight you can offer.
— PledgedRanger
Please select what you are reporting on:
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
Fortnite Creative
What Type of Bug are you experiencing?
Other
Steps to Reproduce
Publishing public listed for the first time.
Check mark “Enable Epic to Promote this Map”.
Expected Result
Indexing or scanning by the algorithm for a maps’ chance on discover was claimed by the documentation to happen for all maps. This is listed within the documentation.
Observed Result
No indexing or scanning of new maps upon publishing, preventing performance entirely and skipping over maps preventing them from entering the Discover platform.
Platform(s)
Windows
PC
PS4
Switch
All
