Sponsored Row Campaigns help developers drive visibility for their islands in Discover. Sponsoring an island can help you reach a wider audience, grow your player base, and potentially increase your revenue.
Campaigns are bid on in an auction based on the campaigns island owners create and manage through the Creator Portal.
To create a campaign:
You must be enrolled in the Fortnite Developer Program.
You must be the island owner with “Owner” permission to create a campaign.
You must be 18+ years old to create campaigns.
Your island must be published and listed.
Set Up Your First Campaign
To create a campaign for a published island, click Campaigns in the Creator Portal main menu to open the Campaigns page. The Promote your islands in Fortnite screen opens.
Signing the Campaign Rules and Terms
Before you can create a campaign for an island, you must read and accept the policy documentation linked on the Promote your islands in Fortnite screen:
Sponsored Content Terms
Sponsored Content Rules
Click to enlarge image.
Click the link for Sponsored Content Terms to open it. Read the terms, then click Close to return to the Promote your islands in Fortnite screen.
Click the link for Fortnite Developer Rules to open it. Read the rules then click Close to return to the Promote your islands in Fortnite screen.
Click to check the first box to agree to and acknowledge the Sponsored Content Terms and Fortnite Developer Rules.
Click the link for Fortnite Developer Rule 1.7 to open it. Read rule 1.7 then Close to return to the Promote your islands in Fortnite screen.
Click to check the second box to acknowledge that your island complies with Fortnite Developer Rule 1.7 and that you hold all necessary IP licenses for your content.
Click Create Campaign.
The Sponsored Content Terms, Sponsored Content Rules, and acknowledgment that your island complies with all necessary IP licenses for your content are marked as complete once you have clicked the Create Campaign button.
You can always review the terms you agreed to in the My Programs page in your Profile Page.
Create a Campaign
The Campaign page is a blank template for you to fill with the following information:
Campaign Name
Select your Island
Campaign Duration (start/end dates)
Daily Budget
Max Bid (CPM)
Payment Method
Follow these steps to get started.
Name your campaign by clicking the pencil icon next to New campaign, then type a new name in the field.
The campaign name must be 3 - 100 alphanumeric characters.
The campaign name must be unique to your account.
Once you have selected an island, the campaign name field uses the Island’s name by default, as well as the date you created the campaign.
Click to enlarge image. Select one of your Island from the dropdown menu. A message appears informing you that your island content will be reviewed before it can be promoted.
Click to enlarge image. Click the Duration field to open the calendar.
Inside the calendar, select start and end dates for your campaign by sliding the blue duration dots into place on the calendar.
Click to enlarge image. Campaigns must be scheduled at least 2 days in advance for moderation.
A campaign can last a maximum of 30 days.
Campaigns must start and end within 90 days of campaign creation. Click in the Daily Budget field to select your daily budget in United States dollars (USD). Keeping in mind the following:
Minimum daily budget: $5
Maximum daily budget: $25,000
To learn more about Daily budget, click Learn to plan your budget.
Click image to enlarge. If you enter a budget that’s too low or too high, the field is outlined in red and a warning displays under the field.
Click image to enlarge. Click the Bid CPM field then enter a bid amount. A banner displays, showing information on the average winning bid amount in the last 7 days. This provides you with some guidance to help you decide on a bid amount.
Click image to enlarge. If you enter a Bid Price that’s too low or too high, the field is outlined in red, and a warning displays under it.
Click image to enlarge. You can edit the start date, Daily budget, and Bid price until the campaign has been activated.
Keep in mind the following:
Minimum bid: $0.10 CPM
Maximum bid: $20.00 CPM
Winning bids pay $0.01 higher than the second-highest bid (second-price auction).
Impressions are delivered in daily “bursts” to maximize concurrent users (CCU).
Click Open full trend data view to see the Market History chart on your current bid. Clicking Hide full trend data closes the Market History section. See Campaign Data below for details under full trend data and the available bid information.
Click + Add to add a payment method, a Payment management window opens at the top of the Campaign form.
Select either Credit Card or PayPal from the list of options.
Click image to enlarge. Enter the required payment information, then click Confirm selection to confirm your payment method.
Click image to enlarge.
Payments are charged daily during campaign delivery, not upfront, based on the delivered Impressions.
For more information about making campaign payments see the Epic Games Store and the Epic Games Store End User License Agreement.
Click Next to review your Campaign Summary. When ready, click Submit Campaign.
Click image to enlarge. Your campaign will not save if you do not enter payment information.
When you’ve successfully submitted your campaign you get a Campaign submitted message.
The Campaigns page opens again and your campaign remains in a review state for 2 days while your island content goes through review. When the review is complete the status of the campaign will update in the Campaigns list.
Campaign Data
As you enter your campaign budgetary information, a preview of the campaign’s Budget subtotal, the current value of your bid, and metrics appear on the Campaign template. Once you’ve added a bid, the Full trend Data populates with information. Below is a breakdown of the data that populates around the campaign you build.
Campaign Budget Calculator
The amounts entered in each field appear in the Campaign Budget Calculator on the right-side of the setup fields.
Market History
On the first day of the campaign, this chart remains empty until sufficient player data is collected. Once data is available, the Market History chart shows the 7-day average Click Per 1,000 Impressions (CPM) by default (reviewable in 1 day, 7 day, 30 day, 90 day, Year To Date, and 1 year delineations).
Use the Market History chart to:
Compare your bid against recent winning prices.
Decide if you need to adjust your CPM to stay competitive.
Understand seasonal or daily shifts in bidding.
On your campaign launch day, this chart remains empty until one full day’s worth of data is collected.
Impressions Estimate
As you set your budget and CPM, the system calculates estimated impressions. If your campaign is projected to deliver fewer than 5,000 impressions per day, a warning appears to inform you that outcomes may be less impactful.
Editing, Pausing, and Canceling a Campaign
Once you successfully submit a campaign you have the option to edit, pause, or cancel the campaign before it goes live. You can also pause or cancel your campaign at any time after the campaign goes live.
You can only edit the campaign name and duration once the campaign is live. If you want to change the bid or budget you will need to create a new campaign.
Editing a Campaign
To edit a campaign do the following:
From the All Campaigns section of the Campaigns page, click the ellipsis menu.
Click image to enlarge. Select Edit from the options.
Click image to enlarge. If there is an issue with your payment method, all of your campaigns are paused and do not resume until the payment status is updated. Once it is updated, all campaigns continue on the next day 00:00 UTC.
To edit an entry, select the pencil icon next to one or more of the following options:
Campaign Name
Campaign end date
Click image to enlarge. Enter the new information and click Save.
Click image to enlarge. Click Confirm to exit and save the changes.
You can only edit the campaign name after the campaign is completed or canceled.
Pausing and Resuming a Campaign
You can resume a paused campaign at any time within 7 days of initially pausing it.
To pause a campaign follow these steps:
Select Pause from the Ellipsis menu. A pop-up appears asking you to confirm your selection.
Click image to enlarge. Click Pause campaign. The campaign status changes to Paused, and remains in a Paused state until you resume the campaign.
Paused campaigns are automatically changed to a Cancelled state after 7 days. Cancelled campaigns cannot be restarted, you will need to create a new campaign.
Click image to enlarge.
To resume a campaign, select Resume from the Ellipsis menu. A message appears informing you that the campaign has resumed.
After you resume a campaign, the campaign’s status changes to Unpaused. When you hover over the status the go live date appears.
Canceling a Campaign
You can cancel a campaign at any time, even during the setup. To cancel a campaign, follow these steps:
Select Cancel from the Ellipsis menu. A pop-up appears asking you to confirm your selection.
Click image to enlarge. Click Cancel campaign.
A confirmation message appears on the Campaigns page, and the status of the campaign changes to Canceled.
Campaign Creation Guidelines
To create a successful campaign there are a few guidelines in place:
During the campaign setup, only islands that are published, listed, and in good standing appear in the Island dropdown menu.
Downranked islands do not appear in the Island dropdown menu.
Island versions that have been removed for Low Performance do not appear in the Island dropdown menu. To get a removed island to display in the dropdown:
Use your metrics in Project Analytics to help evaluate your island's performance and determine the next steps.
Update and republish your island based on metrics learnings and create a new campaign.
Campaigns cannot have the same name as any other campaign.
Multiple campaigns cannot be scheduled for the same island for the same date
Campaigns can only have a maximum duration of 30 days.
The end of a campaign must be 90 days from the day you submit your campaign.
If there is a payment issue for one of your campaigns, all active campaigns will be paused until you update your payment method and successfully pay for the outstanding balance; then the paused campaigns will resume.
If you have an overdue charge on a campaign, all of your campaigns will be canceled after 7 days of non-payment.
If you update your Island to a new release version or unpublish your island, we will cancel all active campaigns for the island. Campaigns are associated directly with an Island version.
Common Campaign Submission Errors
Islands must go through moderation before they are approved for Sponsored Row. In addition to the Fortnite Developer Rules, Epic Games Content Guidelines and Epic Games Community Rules your content must also adhere to the Sponsored Row Content Rules (Section 5 of the Fortnite Developer Rules) to be eligible for Sponsored Row. Below is a list of the most common errors developers might make when creating a campaign. Islands must NOT contain the following:
Real-world quick serve restaurants and real-world food and beverage.
Cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or real world currencies and banks as part of their island experience.
Political party affiliation for campaigning or messaging, including content related to religious or charitable causes, and Political Action Committees (PACs).
Sponsored Row islands must also adhere to the thumbnail guidelines.