Fortnite · James Alleman

The job

Fortnite’s front end is played by tens of millions of people every month, and it changes every season. My team owns the UI implementation for some of its most visible screens across the Shop, Locker and Battle Pass pods.

I plan scope and staffing across those pods and work with UI/UX directors, product managers and lead producers to turn product and UX goals into a technical plan the team can ship. I also still get in engine and implement screens myself. The screenshots you see on this page are some examples of what I have implemented.

Battle Pass, rebuilt

For years the Battle Pass was a straight line: earn levels, unlock the next reward. I co-led the move to a more flexible, player-driven pass. Rewards are now grouped into pages, and players choose which page to work on, unlocking rewards in the order they want.

That change touched almost every Battle Pass screen, from the landing page to the reward pages to purchase.

The Chapter 7 Season 1 Battle Pass landing screen. A large character render sits in the center with a row of character reward pages along the bottom. Chapter 7 Season 1. Each character along the bottom is a page of rewards, with the player’s progress on each page shown at a glance.

A Battle Pass reward page showing the Future Marty outfit, a row of rewards on that page, and buttons to buy levels, view the reward, or claim all. A reward page. The rail at the top moves between pages, the row at the bottom shows every reward on this page, and prerequisites are called out on the right.

The Chapter 6 Season 1 Battle Pass hub with tiles for the Battle Pass, Bonus rewards and Godzilla rewards. The Chapter 6 Season 1 hub. Bonus tracks and collaboration tracks sit next to the main pass, and auto-claim can be turned on from here.

The Battle Pass purchase screen with options to confirm the purchase, buy the Battle Bundle, or gift the pass. Purchase. The main action is clear, the bundle and gift options sit beneath it, and a preview of the rewards fills the right side.

Fortnite Crew, revamped

Fortnite Crew is the monthly subscription that includes every pass. The revamp gave subscribers one place to see all of their passes and gave everyone else a clear explanation of what Crew includes.

The Fortnite Crew screen for a subscriber, showing tiles for the Battle Pass, Music Pass, LEGO Pass and OG Pass with progress on each. The subscriber view. Every pass in one row, each with its own progress and end date.

The About Crew screen listing recurring benefits as tiles: V-Bucks, Battle Pass, Music Pass, LEGO Pass, OG Pass and Crew Pack. About Crew. Each benefit is a tile the player can select to learn more.

The December Crew Pack benefit detail, showing the Lady of Cranes outfit. Selecting a benefit opens its detail view, with the background color matched to the benefit.

A split screen comparing the Fortnite Crew offer with the Battle Pass offer. Crew or Battle Pass. A side-by-side comparison so players can choose what fits them.

How we build it

These screens change every season, so they are built to be driven by data. We use MVVM with viewmodels in Unreal Engine 5: the UI binds to data, and content changes don’t require rebuilding screens. I gave a talk about this approach at Unreal Fest Orlando 2025: Powering Dynamic UI with Viewmodels.

I also set up a UI Technical Design code review process that every Fortnite team now uses. It made implementation more consistent across teams and caught problems before they reached players.

Leading the team

I own hiring and headcount planning for the team. Alongside my FTE direct reports, I manage outsourced contractors, planning their work and reviewing what they deliver so it meets the same bar as everything else we ship. I mentor my direct reports, and several have been promoted, including into leadership roles. I also prototype UX improvements for hands-on executive demos, and those prototypes have influenced the direction of key player-facing systems.