Future Trash announced a $5 million seed round in September 2024, led by TIRTA and General Catalyst, to develop FOAD, its original game franchise, within Fortnite using Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). Epic’s August 2026 retrospective adds what followed: a slate of Fortnite experiences, licensed projects and the studio’s independent publishing of Droid Tycoon.
What the $5 million round was for
GamesBeat reported on September 30, 2024, that Future Trash had raised $5 million in seed financing, with TIRTA and General Catalyst leading the round. The announced purpose was to build and launch FOAD as a UGC-native franchise on Fortnite’s UEFN platform. The report does not establish the round’s valuation, investor ownership, revenue or profitability.
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At the time, GamesBeat reported Future Trash figures of 20 million unique players and one billion minutes of playtime across its UGC games. Epic’s later retrospective gives a different, later account: by the time of the late-2024 seed round, the studio’s UEFN releases had accumulated more than two billion total minutes. These are separately attributed, time-specific figures, not interchangeable totals; neither source presents them as independently audited measures.
What are Future Trash, FOAD and UEFN?
Future Trash and FOAD
Epic says Future Trash was founded in 2022 by Kevin Marciano, Nate Reese, Scott Ulliman and Eric Leino. FOAD—short for Fully Operational Annihilation Devices—began as a standalone Unreal Engine 5 game, featuring anthropomorphic explosive characters and a 1990s-inspired aesthetic. Future Trash describes FOAD as its flagship intellectual property.
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- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
UEFN and the studio’s pivot
After struggling to find an audience for its standalone game, the studio pivoted to prototyping and releasing Fortnite experiences following Epic’s March 2023 announcement of UEFN. UEFN is Epic’s tool for creating Fortnite experiences. Epic describes the move as giving Future Trash a way to iterate faster and discover an audience; that is the studio’s experience, not a guarantee of similar results for other developers.
The trade-off is between a standalone game’s broad creative freedom and building within a host platform’s rules and audience. As CEO Kevin Marciano told GamesBeat, “Creating a standalone game is really a blank canvas, whereas there are some limitations in UGC, but we believe limitations foster creativity.” He also identified a specific challenge for FOAD: “The biggest challenge of building original IP in Fortnite is educating the audience that this is a unique world within Fortnite.”
Rank #2
- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
What Future Trash built after the funding announcement
Epic’s August 19, 2026 retrospective describes a growing portfolio of Fortnite experiences. It names Boom Tycoon, Boom: Boss Battle, Factory Deathrun, Box Fight PVP and Boom Tycoon 2. Epic says Factory Deathrun was nominated for Best User-Created Island at The Game Awards 2024, and Boom Tycoon 2 was nominated in the 2025 Fortnite category.
Epic also cites Mythic Medallions, a licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles experience; We’re Cooked, an island associated with Future Trash’s acquisition of Axis Studios; and Beast Parkour, developed with MrBeast’s team. These releases show the studio working across original concepts, licensed properties and collaborations rather than relying on FOAD alone.
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Rank #3
- An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
- If playing on a console platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch or Mobile) you need to link your Epic Games account to that gaming platform (one time) to redeem your gift card code
- The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
- Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
- Redemption: Online
How Droid Tycoon changed the story
Epic says it selected Future Trash in late 2025 as one of a small group of UEFN creators given early access to officially licensed Star Wars assets. The collaboration led to Droid Tycoon. According to Epic, the game recorded 1.5 billion minutes of playtime in its first month, became Fortnite’s second-most-played game during its first weekend, and set a record for the highest concurrent players over a two-hour period for an IP experience in Fortnite history.
Epic reports that a team of approximately nine built Droid Tycoon in five months. It also says Epic transferred publishing rights to FOAD, which now independently publishes and operates the game. The performance and production figures are Epic-reported milestones, not independent measures of revenue, profit or commercial return.
Rank #4
- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
What the story does—and does not—say about the financing
The $5 million figure is the announced size of a seed round, not a disclosed company valuation or a measure of the studio’s earnings. The reported playtime totals show engagement as described by GamesBeat and Epic, but do not reveal how much money the experiences generated or how much Future Trash retained. No cited source specifies the financing terms, investor stakes, revenue or profitability.
In Epic’s 2026 account, Marciano recalled that the team had “a few months of runway left” when it made its move into UEFN. His advice to creators was: “Roll up your sleeves and start building.” That retrospective provides context for the studio’s pivot, but it does not establish that funding or Fortnite distribution will produce the same outcome for other developers.
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- An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
- If playing on a console platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch or Mobile) you need to link your Epic Games account to that gaming platform (one time) to redeem your gift card code
- The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
- Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
- Redemption: Online
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
