CEO of Epic Games Wants ‘Fortnite’ Skins to Work With ‘Roblox’ in the Future

The founder of Epic Games revealed that he believes Fortnite players should one day be able to carry their skins over to other titles, such as Roblox or Call of Duty. Tim Sweeney explained what is currently holding the industry back from allowing customers to seamlessly jump between different gaming platforms.

‘Fortnite’ Skins in ‘Roblox’?

In an interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney opened up about Fortnite skins. The CEO had an interesting discussion about how the games industry has been divided up. Platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam keep players—and their paid content—separated. However, according to Sweeney, he would like to see a future where users have the power to unify all of their paid content across platforms.

“We are left in a world where people can’t seamlessly move from game to game, bringing their friends and stuff. So the solution to this is to federate and connect all the systems together. All the players and all the different platforms can be recognized by their name. Put the ‘at’ sign in it so your Xbox names, or your Epic names, Steam names can all live together in a single space. The next and bigger challenge is unifying the economies too. There is a huge set of games that have in common the idea of a cosmetic system that does not impact gameplay outcomes.”

Sweeney then said he would like to see items bought in one game accessible in other titles. “Most of the major multiplayer titles have cosmetics. If you look at most games, you can probably bundle together 70% of them and say they are similar enough that they can actually interoperate. That you could own an outfit in Fortnite, own an outfit in Roblox, and own the same outfit in maybe Call of Duty—and maybe a hundred or two hundred other games—and actually expect they would work together.”

Players Really Like Their Skins

Sweeney used Fortnite’s car system as an example of how unified skins could work. In the battle royale, whoever is the first to enter a vehicle will automatically apply the skin they have purchased. While Sweeney said he would like cosmetic items unified across platforms, he also admitted that some things would be impossible. For example, he pointed out that a “legendary sword” in World of Warcraft wouldn’t work in Call of Duty. However, he argued that most major games now use a cosmetic “skin” system. I have to say, he makes a really good point.

One of the things that keeps pulling me back into Fortnite is all the skins I’ve accumulated over the years. I’m not alone in this—I have friends who’ve said the same thing. So, it feels like a major waste that these outfits are just locked to one game. A future where I could use some of my favorite skins in other titles would be incredible. It would also make purchasable items feel like they have value.

But even if the Fortnite skin-sharing idea seems currently impossible due to corporate greed, Sweeney’s point about players having unified names across all platforms also makes sense. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to manage multiple usernames across different platforms. Plus, with Sony now releasing games on PC and Microsoft launching Xbox games on PlayStation 5, it feels like unified platforms are the inevitable future of gaming anyway.