Unity Software Inc. (U) shares rallied Wednesday after the gaming technology company announced a partnership with Epic Games that could reshape how game developers reach audiences.

Opening the Gates to Fortnite

The deal brings Unity-built games into Fortnite, which boasts more than 500 million registered accounts worldwide. Developers using Unity's game engine will now be able to publish their creations directly into Fortnite and tap into the Fortnite Creator Economy, potentially unlocking access to one of gaming's largest player bases.

"Just like the early days of the web, we believe that companies need to work together in order to build the open metaverse in a way that's interoperable and fair," said Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games. "Working alongside Unity we're helping developers build fun games, reach bigger audiences, and find success."

The market liked what it heard. Unity shares jumped more than 10% following the announcement, according to market data.

Cross-Platform Commerce Gets an Upgrade

There's more to the partnership than just game distribution. Unity will add Unreal Engine support to its cross-platform commerce platform, giving developers using Epic's competing game engine more flexibility for managing digital catalogs, payment systems, and web storefronts across PC, mobile, and web platforms. That functionality is expected to launch early next year.

The move allows Unreal developers to handle pricing, promotions, and live operations through Unity's commerce tools—an interesting bit of cooperation between two companies that compete in the game engine space.

"Choice and open systems create growth for everyone in the gaming ecosystem," said Matt Bromberg, CEO of Unity.

Stock Movement

Unity shares were trading at $38.45 at publication time, up 4% on the day. The stock had surged as high as $41 during pre-market trading before pulling back from those highs.