Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Droid Tycoon was almost Death Star Tycoon. The team went deep on that idea before betting everything on droids, and the bet paid off at a level very few Fortnite islands ever see.
Scott Ulliman and Nate Reese of Future Trash sit down to explain how the game actually got made, and it is a masterclass for anyone building in UEFN or watching how big IP enters UGC.
What they get into:
- Epic approached them to pitch a Star Wars idea while they were mid project on a completely different collab
- Every droid in the game is a Niagara particle system, because 40+ skeletal meshes was never going to fit
- Scene Graph was still actively in development, and the game could not have been built without it
- A carryable blueprint that exploded when you slam dunked it became a permanent feature players now film glitch videos about
- The nervous first pitch to Disney was "can we make one of these droids diamond," and the creative freedom has only grown since
- The exact moment, on the second weekend after launch, when they realized this was not a normal launch
X: x.com/foadzone
Scott Ulliman
X: https://x.com/scottulliman
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/scott-ulliman-a3169516
Nate Reese
X: https://x.com/natereesedev
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nate-reese
Don't hate, create
Subscribe to my channel: bit.ly/3pv1V2q
Follow my Twitter: twitter.com/ImmatureGamerX
Follow my Instagram: instagram.com/immature_Gamer
Join my Discord: discord.gg/PecfY77
Contact: xximmaturegamerxx@gmail.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:56 Meet Scott & Nate from FOD
3:14 Why UEFN Changed Game Development for Them
5:40 Unity Coming to Fortnite
7:09 Why They Chose Droid Tycoon for Star Wars
9:59 Building 40+ Custom Droids
13:15 Behind the Scenes of Droid Tycoon
15:07 Why Droid Tycoon Needed Scene Graph
16:39 Bugs, Secrets & the Droid Tycoon Community
22:14 When They Realized Droid Tycoon Was a Massive Hit
30:43 Why Players Stay in Droid Tycoon So Long
37:19 Their Game Design Pillars
38:28 How Success Changed the Studio
40:46 The Unreal Fest Creator Party
43:30 Building Sidekick Wars
46:21 Why You Should Never Lock Your Game Design Too Early
46:29 The Playtest That Changed Droid Tycoon
49:14 Advice for Fortnite & UEFN Creators
52:59 What FOD Is Building Next
54:26 Outro
Droid Tycoon was almost Death Star Tycoon. The team went deep on that idea before betting everything on droids, and the bet paid off at a level very few Fortnite islands ever see.
Scott Ulliman and Nate Reese of Future Trash sit down to explain how the game actually got made, and it is a masterclass for anyone building in UEFN or watching how big IP enters UGC.
What they get into:
- Epic approached them to pitch a Star Wars idea while they were mid project on a completely different collab
- Every droid in the game is a Niagara particle system, because 40+ skeletal meshes was never going to fit
- Scene Graph was still actively in development, and the game could not have been built without it
- A carryable blueprint that exploded when you slam dunked it became a permanent feature players now film glitch videos about
- The nervous first pitch to Disney was "can we make one of these droids diamond," and the creative freedom has only grown since
- The exact moment, on the second weekend after launch, when they realized this was not a normal launch
X: x.com/foadzone
Scott Ulliman
X: https://x.com/scottulliman
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/scott-ulliman-a3169516
Nate Reese
X: https://x.com/natereesedev
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nate-reese
Don't hate, create
Subscribe to my channel: bit.ly/3pv1V2q
Follow my Twitter: twitter.com/ImmatureGamerX
Follow my Instagram: instagram.com/immature_Gamer
Join my Discord: discord.gg/PecfY77
Contact: xximmaturegamerxx@gmail.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:56 Meet Scott & Nate from FOD
3:14 Why UEFN Changed Game Development for Them
5:40 Unity Coming to Fortnite
7:09 Why They Chose Droid Tycoon for Star Wars
9:59 Building 40+ Custom Droids
13:15 Behind the Scenes of Droid Tycoon
15:07 Why Droid Tycoon Needed Scene Graph
16:39 Bugs, Secrets & the Droid Tycoon Community
22:14 When They Realized Droid Tycoon Was a Massive Hit
30:43 Why Players Stay in Droid Tycoon So Long
37:19 Their Game Design Pillars
38:28 How Success Changed the Studio
40:46 The Unreal Fest Creator Party
43:30 Building Sidekick Wars
46:21 Why You Should Never Lock Your Game Design Too Early
46:29 The Playtest That Changed Droid Tycoon
49:14 Advice for Fortnite & UEFN Creators
52:59 What FOD Is Building Next
54:26 Outro
