Fortnite YouTuber made $26,000 off FaZe Sway's creator code

Olivia Richman Published 21/10/2019

Fortnite YouTuber Sway has reportedly made over $26,000 from Epic Games’ creator code program because of his name’s similarity to FaZe Clan’s Sway.

A YouTuber by the name of Fortnite Guy was the first to reveal the shocking number, noting that when Fortnite star Sway joined FaZe, the similarly named Sway started to earn even more from the creator code program. It has become quite evident that people are confusing their names when using this feature.

But there was even more to the story than that.

Epic’s Support a Creator function allows fans to use a players’ “creator code” while making purchases in the Epic Games store. For every 10,000 V-Bucks spent in-game under that code, Epic will give $5 to the creator.

Of course, many Fortnite fans accidentally put in Sway’s creator code, since his name is so similar to the popular Fortnite pro from FaZe Clan. This is not a sceme that Sway set up purposely, as he just happened to have the same tag and most likely used it before FaZe Sway’s rise to fame. But it has uncovered some drama regarding Epic’s creator code function.

Sway and OrangeGuy’s support a creator scheme backfires

According to Fortnite Guy’s video, another Fortnite YouTuber named OrangeGuy had applied for a creator code, but Epic denied him since he has uploaded videos exploiting various bugs within the battle royale.

OrangeGuy then recruited his friend, Sway, to apply for a code for him.

In a TwitLonger, OrangeGuy explained that Epic had replied to Sway’s emails quickly. The two were friends for over two years, so OrangeGuy was able to log into Sway’s account to access the funds. He was supposed to get paid after two months of this, but Sway suddenly stopped responding 10 days before a payment was due.

Since Sway was still playing Fortnite and retweeting on Twitter, OrangeGuy became suspicious.

“I got scared cause to me it looked like he was going to take my money (about $12,000). He finally responded and we argued cause I accused him of trying to steal my money. He stated that he won’t ever steal my money and that I have to chill out,” he said.

When he finally got paid, OrangeGuy gave Sway $1,000 for helping him out.

But then four more months passed without OrangeGuy getting paid at all.

“During these four months, he stopped letting me in the account because he ‘didn’t trust me anymore’ and ‘I was going to do something with it.’ […] One day, he showed me how his support a creator code ‘Sway’ made him over $50,000. This made no sense to me cause he only had about 1,000 subscribers on YouTube with only one upload every month,” OrangeGuy continued.

The content creator soon realized Sway was getting money from FaZe Sway supporters who were using the code “Sway” instead of “YoSway.” OrangeGuy called this “scummy” but still didn’t really care. But he did tell Sway to delete the account since he wasn’t allowing him to access it.

After a week with the account still active, OrangeGuy told Sway to delete the account again. According to him, Sway then told him to “fuck off.” Sway then allegedly shared lies about OrangeGuy to people, while also deleting “mean and racist messages” allegedly sent to OrangeGuy.

Sway tells his side to Fortnite Guy

After the TwitLonger from OrangeGuy, Sway decided it was time to tell his side of events to Fortnite Guy. First, he claimed the $50,000 amount was “fake” and “Photoshopped,” and that he’d truthfully made $26,000 off of FaZe Sway’s fans. He was supposedly just “teasing” OrangeGuy.

Sway even showed Fortnite Guy how much he made month by month. The amount he earned blew up when FaZe Sway entered the scene more heavily.

Sway also claims to have spoken to FaZe Sway about the mix-up, stating that he created the code right when the support a creator program was set up “before [FaZe Sway] blew up.”

“He honestly didn’t even care,” he said. “I told him I’d give [the code] to him, but he didn’t want to reset. I’m confident he’d back me up on that, too.”

Sway then said that he even offered to give the money he earned to FaZe, who told the smaller content creator “that’s yours.”

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile