Mark Rein

Vice President and Co-Founder of Epic Games. Carolina Hurricanes fan.

[Unreal Engine @UnrealEngine]

Meet the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam partners! 🤝

Claude, Google, OpenAI, and SpaceXSI are joining AMD, Diversion, fal, Hyper3D, Intel, Meshy, NetApp, NVIDIA, PBRgen, Reallusion, Rokoko, Tripo, and WeLoveIndies to add tools, credits, and prizes to this year’s jam.

Registered jammers: keep an eye on your inbox. Perk codes and claim links go out today.

See every perk and prize: https://t.co/RwXyFdUN5S

[Unreal Engine @UnrealEngine]

https://t.co/QnAPvKpYv2

[Tim Sweeney @TimSweeneyEpic]

It's a new age of game development! This is the Unreal Engine 5.9 preview, consisting of huge improvements to AI acceleration ported from unfinished Unreal Engine 6, plus entirely new support for play inside web browsers.

[Epic Games Store @EpicGames]

We heard you!

Read more about how we're improving the Epic Games Launcher. https://t.co/O1wMnuSX15

[🎃 Aicha Laribi | Fortnite News👻 @AichaLaribii]

FORTNITE IS NOT PLAYING AROUND! PERMANENT BANS HAVE STARTED!💀

Epic Games has PERMANENTLY BANNED a Fortnite Creative developer for misleading players into believing they could obtain the extremely rare Pirate Shop Access Token by playing their map!

+ All their islands and associated accounts were removed.
+ Their engagement payouts were revoked.
+ Epic confirmed that the removed earnings would be redistributed into the creator payout pool.
+ EPIC IS WARNING EVERYONE Players are now selling accounts claiming to have Pirate Shop Access, promoting fake unlock tools, and offering paid methods to obtain the token. One account was even listed for $10,000! 💀
+ Epic has made it clear that buying accounts or using fake tools is a scam and could get you BANNED. So please be careful dear lovelies 🩷

- HERE'S HOW PIRATE SHOP ACCESS ACTUALLY WORKS:
+ It's an extremely rare reward found randomly in Battle Royale chests.
+ Every player has an equal opportunity to find it.
+ It provides TWO separate 14 day Item Shop access periods, one in 2026 and another in 2027.
+ During those periods, eligible Item Shop cosmetics can be claimed for FREE!
+ Cosmetics you claim remain permanently in your Locker.
+ You cannot use it to gift items, purchase Battle Passes, or claim real money bundles.
+ No Creative map, special skin, secret code, or paid tool can guarantee you the token!
+ You've probably seen people claiming it's 1 in 700,000 chests, while others estimate around 1 in 2,000. Neither figure has been officially confirmed by Epic Games!
+ There is currently NO verified guaranteed method to obtain it. Just open chests

As a Fortnite creator myself, it genuinely bothers me seeing people take advantage of players, especially younger audiences, just to generate engagement and make money. Don't give anyone your account information, don't purchase suspicious tools, and don't risk losing an account you've spent years building. And remember, if someone promises you guaranteed Pirate Shop Access just for playing their Creative map, they're misleading you.
Stay safe loves 🩷✨

[Tim Sweeney @TimSweeneyEpic]

What we are trying to do: Build an engine that’s more powerful than UE5, easier to develop in than Unity, and is the most efficient effective way to build with AI acceleration.

The problem with having old systems and new systems side-by-side is the tendency to mix them, and then their interoperability becomes a giant tangle of blueprints and verse, actors and entities.

We thought that side-by-side was unavoidable, but AI assisted conversion is now clearly way more effective, and will produce a way more manageable UE6 project than a hybrid, while making it way easier for us to simplify and improve the engine.

We’ll be proving it out by converting Fortnite, the game with the largest base of blueprints in existence, to the new approach.

[Fortnite Status @FortniteStatus]

⚓ Downtime's over - all aboard! Catch up on everything new:

BR: https://t.co/rjGWQxvzpV
Reload: https://t.co/9OwXEgoJkL
Blitz: https://t.co/3Wcj6Ay05W
OG: https://t.co/oGffe2yDzF
Save the World: https://t.co/v4Uio67yPt

[Mark Rein @MarkRein]

@MySpritesme Me too!!!

[Mark Rein @MarkRein]

Enjoy!!!

[Fortnite @Fortnite]

Fortunes are ready to be found… set sail in Treasure Hunters!

[Fortnite @Fortnite]

Unlock your crew with the Treasure Hunters Battle Pass!

[Mark Rein @MarkRein]

Happy hunting!!

[Fortnite @Fortnite]

Every legendary adventure deserves a legendary opening.

[Mark Rein @MarkRein]

My word for the CH7:Treasure Hunters season is: Plunder

[Gossty @GosstyOfficial]

@MarkRein what’s our teaser word for Fortnite: Treasure Hunters? 👀

[Epic Games Newsroom @EpicNewsroom]

Big news! Google is enabling Android users to download safe, verified alternative app stores without the "unknown sources" warning. Store developers can enroll in the Registered App Store program starting today and the changes will go into effect on December 1st.

This is a great step in the evolution of Android as an open platform. Learn more here: https://t.co/zykV8eGL6u

[Tim Sweeney @TimSweeneyEpic]

@BusDownBonnor @keleftheriou The App Store needs competition. Not just in Europe, and not with competitors hobbled by junk fees, undiscoverability, and friction.

[wyfi @wyyfi]

Everything is starting to add up now on why so many developers have reportedly been wrongfully terminated.

Phil Schiller reportedly stepped back from running the App Store partly over concerns that Apple’s push for more revenue could deepen conflicts with developers.

He raised those concerns, stepped back, and soon after, developers began reporting sudden account terminations and lost livelihoods. Coincidence?

@Apple @cue @tim_cook @carsonoliver, developers helped build this ecosystem, yet our ability to reach users still depends heavily on your control over app distribution.

If your goal is to boost App Store revenue, compete fairly instead of making developers dependent on your store.

Let developers distribute outside the App Store. Competition could make your store better without forcing everyone to rely on it.

Internal leadership decisions shouldn't determine whether developers can support themselves and their families.

The iPhone remains successful because of the apps developers build and people open every day. Even as you're reading this, you're using an app originally built by fellow developer @jack, once called Twitter.

Apple, your leadership needs to recognize that and sit down with the next generation of developers.

We deserve a seat at the table to discuss the future of an ecosystem we helped build.

Speak to us, not just delete us.
We carry more weight than you think.
And this conversation is only going to get louder.

[Unreal Engine @UnrealEngine]

In Unreal Engine 5.8, you can animate rig controls directly on your model.

👆Author controls directly on your character’s mesh, with intuitive click-and-drag posing and customizable colors and transparency.
✏️Edit PolyGroups directly in the Skeletal Mesh Editor and use Direct Mesh Layers to adapt control regions to rig states, such as IK or FK.

Learn more here: https://t.co/hFGtIZ7TP7

[GhostNewgarden @GhostNewgarden]

⚠️In case you missed it ⚠️

Fortnite quietly upgraded auto-pickup last week 👀

If the setting's on and you walk past a higher-rarity version of a weapon you're already carrying, it swaps automatically now. Holding a gray pump, run over a green one, and it's yours — no button press, no inventory shuffle.

Honestly one of the best QoL changes in a while.
Do you already use auto pickup?
In your opinion W change? Or mid?
#Fortnite

[Epic Games Newsroom @EpicNewsroom]

Big news: Fortnite is coming back to the App Store in Australia tomorrow!

Today the Australia Federal Court told Apple to open up iOS after finding they violated competition law. Here’s what’s changing in Australia in March 2027:
• iOS will be open to third party app stores
• Australian users will be able to download apps directly from developers
• Developers will be able to offer only alternative payment systems and Apple can’t require devs to offer Apple’s IAP, without charging junk fees
• Apple cannot block developers from pointing users outside apps to make purchases
• Apple is barred from charging junk fees on purchases made in third party app stores

This is great news for developers worldwide and iOS users in Australia who will benefit from an open mobile app ecosystem.

[Unreal Engine @UnrealEngine]

Train Tracks is an artwork created by 3D Artist @kevringriffin to help with their learning of Unreal Engine 5. The project uses Megascans with supplemental modelling in UE for the tunnel.

"The modeling tools in UE5 are highly underrated. They can do more than you'd expect, the updates through the last few years really made them quite useful for a lot of situations. Especially in my case, where I needed quick visualizations. It was perfect to just get it done in UE with real-time updates rather than going into another application." - Kevrin Griffin

[Mark Rein @MarkRein]

So they built a @RocketLeague car in real life? Wow!!

[Tesla @Tesla]

Every car on the road today is limited by one thing: tire grip

Roadster's thruster system generates 4–5x the force the tires can.

More force on the same mass means significantly better acceleration – physics does the rest