This week’s Lab Notes Newsletter continues to paint a clear picture: the lines between creators and developers are quickly disappearing. Whether it’s game designers scripting their own monetization systems or writers building tech-powered publishing businesses, the trend is unmistakable, tools are getting better, and the people using them are more empowered than ever. From Unreal Fest in Orlando to major platform updates at Roblox, Substack, and YouTube, this was a week of convergence across creativity, code, and community.
Unreal Fest 2025: Tools Built for Creators to Scale
At Unreal Fest in Orlando, Epic Games put creators first. The biggest draw was Unreal Engine 5.4, which introduced key updates like motion-matching animation and mobile-optimized Lumen lighting, both major quality-of-life upgrades for small teams.
But the deeper focus was UEFN, the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. It’s no longer just a level editor; it’s a full-fledged dev environment. Epic revealed over 5,000 developers are now earning through UEFN, with 40% of them making over $10,000 annually. In the past 90 days alone, UEFN-built islands drew 90 million unique players, offering exposure that many indie devs can only dream of. With more tooling, monetization upgrades, and a creator-to-creator asset marketplace on the horizon, UEFN is fast becoming a legit platform for building games and businesses.
At Unreal Fest 2025 in Orlando, Epic Games focused heavily on updates to UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite), which continues to grow into a full creative development platform. Developers using UEFN are shipping entire interactive experiences, and many are now generating real income through Epic’s revenue-sharing system. More than 5,000 creators are earning with UEFN, and 40% are pulling in $10,000+ a year from their islands alone. With 90 million players engaging with UEFN content in the last quarter, discoverability is no longer a barrier for these creators.
Summer Game Fest 2025: Indie Energy on the Main Stage
Summer Game Fest delivered on the big reveals, Witcher 4, 007: First Light, Resident Evil: Requiem, Splitgate 2, and Sonic Racing: Crossworlds all made appearances, but the most memorable moments were the ones made by small teams.
The event also wasn’t just about the blockbusters this year, it was about weird, heartfelt, and original ideas. Geoff Keighley opened the show with, “You guys all know I love my puppets,” before introducing Felt That: Boxing, a quirky puppet fighting game developed with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. The project is both surreal and emotionally grounded, a great example of how playful design and storytelling can coexist.
And Felt That: Boxing, from San Strings Studio, which we covered in a previous article, turns puppets into playable characters with surprising emotion. These projects didn’t just show polish, they showed vision, proof that even in a crowded space, originality stands out.
Another standout was Out of Words, a claymation co-op game that brought stop-motion storytelling to a digital stage. Developed by Kong Orange, the game lets players explore a handcrafted world where every object, puzzle, and movement feels uniquely human. It’s one of those rare games that speaks to both creative ambition and technical craft.
Roblox: Expanding the Indie Economy
Roblox remains a powerhouse for developers who want to scale up creative ideas without massive studios. In 2024, over $850 million was paid out to creators, making it one of the most robust ecosystems for user-generated games. The platform is now supporting 4.5 million active devs, many of whom are using newly added tools like AI-assisted NPC behavior, localization pipelines, and improved animation syncing.
Roblox Aims for Bigger Slice of Gaming Market
In this week’s Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki said the company is targeting 10% of the $190 billion global gaming market. The platform is gaining more users, especially older kids, helped by new content like racing games and sports experiences. In the first quarter, Roblox saw strong growth — revenue hit $1.03 billion, daily users jumped to 97.8 million, and people spent 21.7 billion hours on the platform. For 2025, Roblox expects to keep growing, with total sales possibly reaching over $4.3 billion. The stock has done well too, rising 165% in the past year, and most analysts recommend buying it. Experts think Roblox will keep growing, especially with new ways to earn money through ads and online shopping.
Roblox developers are seeing similar momentum. With more than 4.5 million active devs and $850 million paid out in 2024, the platform has become a thriving economy for indie game makers. Recent improvements in localization, animation, and AI NPC systems are making it easier than ever for creators to build polished, globally available experiences. Meanwhile, creator-led studios are scaling fast, even as leadership shifts like Stefano Corazza’s move from Roblox to Canva show how talent is flowing toward AI-enhanced creative tooling.
This week also saw a key leadership change: Stefano Corazza, Head of Roblox Studio, stepped down to lead AI research at Canva. His exit points to a broader shift, the value of those building dev tools is increasingly recognized across industries, especially where AI meets creativity.
YouTube: Creators Coding Their Way to Scale
The line between content creator and developer continues to blur on YouTube. Over 500,000 channels now use YouTube’s API to automate uploads, manage performance analytics, and run AI-enhanced workflows. This week, YouTube’s new Stream Studio SDK opened the door for even more interactivity, allowing creators and their dev teams to add overlays, polls, and in-stream monetization tools in real time.
With Shorts now driving 42% of total platform views, creators are leaning on these tools to increase both reach and monetization. Whether you’re a solo video editor or working with a team, the platform is clearly rewarding tech-savvy experimentation.
On the video side, YouTube creators are increasingly using dev tools to boost productivity and engagement. More than half a million channels now integrate with YouTube’s API to automate workflows or run dynamic overlays. Shorts are dominating in 2025, now making up 42% of all views, and the new Stream Studio SDK is giving developers a way to bring interactivity into that short-form format. For solo creators, these features translate directly into more control, faster publishing, and better monetization.
Substack: Million-Dollar Newsletters Are Now a Category
Substack continues to redefine what solo writing careers can look like. This week at The Information’s “Future of Influence” event in Los Angeles, Substack CEO Chris Best confirmed confirmed that 53 of its writers are earning over $1 million per year.
With more than 3 million paid subscriptions on the platform and $400 million in payouts to date, it’s clear that readers are willing to pay for consistent, high-quality content, and creators are responding.
What’s driving the growth? A combination of trust-based audience relationships and product upgrades: Substack’s discovery feed, referral network, podcast support, and subscriber analytics all help writers act more like full-stack publishers.
Independent writers also had a big week. Substack announced that over 53 of its newsletter authors are now earning $1 million or more annually. That’s not counting the thousands more who are making sustainable incomes by delivering niche, high-value content directly to readers. Writers are leaning into tools like Substack’s referral system, podcast hosting, and built-in analytics to grow loyal audiences without relying on social algorithms or ad networks.
Creator Platform Comparison (2025 Snapshot)
Here’s how the top creator platforms currently stack up in terms of developer count, earnings, and feature evolution:
| Platform | Active Creators | 2024 Earnings | Total Paid Out | Key 2025 Features | Monetization |
| UEFN (Fortnite) | 5,000+ paid creators | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Creator marketplace (upcoming), Verse scripting, UEFN analytics | Revenue share based on player engagement |
| Roblox | 4.5M+ devs | $850M+ | ~$3B+ (estimated total) | Localization tools, AI NPCs, upgraded animation sync | DevEx payout system |
| Substack | N/A | Not isolated (varies per writer) | $400M+ | Referral growth, podcasting tools, discovery feed | Direct subscriptions |
| YouTube | 500K+ API-active channels | Not disclosed (Shorts = 42% of views) | ~$30B+ (lifetime creator payouts) | Stream Studio SDK, Shorts optimization, real-time overlays | Ads, memberships, tips, Shorts fund |
Big Picture: Creators Are the New Platforms
Meanwhile, AWE (Augmented World Expo) kicked off with new product demos in spatial computing and immersive design, signaling that AR/MR creativity may soon be as accessible as game dev tools are now.
So what’s the takeaway?
The tools are here. The audiences are ready. And creators, whether they’re coding in UEFN, launching on Substack, or animating with real-world clay, are shaping the future of interactive media. This isn’t just a trend. It’s a shift in who builds what, and who gets paid for it.