In what\u2019s becoming increasingly common for Fortnite<\/em>, the game is fusing with one of the biggest pop culture properties around. This time around, it\u2019s Lego. But the launch of Lego Fortnite<\/em><\/a> is also much more involved than the typical tie-in \u2014 and the start of what seems like a new era for Fortnite<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lego Fortnite<\/em> is a survival crafting game<\/a> that\u2019s available inside of Fortnite<\/em> starting today. It\u2019s sort of like a Lego version of Minecraft<\/em>, only instead of downloading a whole new game, you just select a tile from the Fortnite<\/em> menu the same way you would when you hop into battle royale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I was able to play around 30 minutes of the game earlier in the week, and it\u2019s very impressive, if somewhat familiar. Players are given a large, procedurally generated map to explore \u2014 Epic says that it\u2019s 19 times larger than the battle royale island, which just got a refresh<\/a> \u2014 and you can play in a creative mode, where you build whatever you like, or a survival mode, where skeletons, wolves, and other baddies come out, and you also have to worry about things like hunger and deal with extreme heat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So far, so Minecraft<\/em>. The big appeal here, though, is not only the Lego aspect but also that it\u2019s available freely within an already very popular game. In fact, Lego Fortnite<\/em> is just the first of a trio of games coming out inside of Fortnite<\/em> this week; it\u2019ll be followed by Rocket Racing<\/em> on December 8th (from the creators of Rocket League<\/em>) and Fortnite Festival<\/em> on December 9th (from the studio behind Rock Band<\/em> and Guitar Hero<\/em>). The idea is that Fortnite<\/em> will become more than just the game where players fight to the death on a colorful island. It will be a platform full of all kinds of games, sort of like a more tightly controlled version of Roblox<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to demonstrate a different way to think about a gaming ecosystem, that can hold both the smallest of creator games to the biggest of our first-party games, and anything in between,\u201d Saxs\u00a0Persson, Epic\u2019s executive VP, tells The Verge<\/em>. (He was also previously the chief creative officer and VP at Minecraft<\/em> studio Mojang.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to Persson, Lego was the right initial game to further several elements of the Fortnit<\/em>e ecosystem. One is the ongoing desire to build a metaverse<\/a>, or a virtual space with persistent identities. When Lego and Epic first announced their partnership<\/a>, the stated goal was to \u201cbuild a space in the metaverse that\u2019s fun, entertaining, and made for kids and families.\u201d Persson says that\u2019s where the minifigs come in. Epic says<\/a> that, right now, a few hundred Fortnite<\/em> skins have a Lego variant available, with more being added in the coming months, so players can take their favorite outfits across these experiences. \u201cThe minifigs that we\u2019re showing, and the idea that you can be different people in the metaverse, is really important to us,\u201d Persson says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another element is age ratings. In the lead-up to the launch of Fortnite: Chapter 5<\/em> and Lego Fortnite<\/em>, Epic began introducing age ratings for all experiences in the game<\/a>, including those made by users. Lego Fortnite<\/em>, for instance, is rated \u201cE10+\u201d while battle royale is rated \u201cTeen.\u201d The Lego collaboration \u201cenabled us to further our idea that Fortnite<\/em> wasn\u2019t just a Teen game,\u201d Persson says. \u201cIt\u2019s an all-ages platform where you get to decide the right content for the right person, and parents feel in control of what their kids can play. And they can live natively next to each other without feeling like we\u2019ve lost the narrative that anybody is welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The process has already run into some hitches, like when Epic blocked some outfits from child-friendly experiences<\/a>, only to revert the changes<\/a>. \u201cWe have a great community that will let us know within seconds if we get it wrong,\u201d Persson says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The final piece of the puzzle is the user-made experiences. Starting at GDC this past March, Epic has been making a bigger push to expand the Fortnite<\/em> Creative ecosystem, with Unreal Engine-powered tools<\/a>, a revamped creator economy<\/a>, and a YouTube-style redesign to push player-built games<\/a>. And according to Persson, part of the goal behind all of these new Epic-developed games inside of Fortnite <\/em>\u2014 Lego included \u2014 is that they will also eventually trickle down to creators, thus expanding the game\u2019s overall ecosystem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a press release for Lego Fortnite<\/em>, for instance, Epic says that \u201cthe two companies are also using Unreal Engine to build digital twins for thousands of physical Lego elements, and are working to make these available for creators across the Fortnite <\/em>ecosystem in both UEFN and Fortnite<\/em>\u2019s Creative tools in 2024.\u201d (Also coming in 2024: \u201cseveral more Lego themed games inside Fortnite<\/em>.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe goal is absolutely that anything we do benefits creators over time,\u201d says Persson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n