Starting this week in Fortnite, you can have the Predator doing a Pelé victory dance while wielding TheGrefg’s gamepad pickaxe. On Thursday, a Faze Clan streamer played Fortnite with a Manchester City star while wearing Manchester City skins. The battle royale hit has long been known as a cross-promotional juggernaut, but developer Epic Games has recently taken things to a whole new level.
Just this season, which kicked off on December 2nd, Epic has added:
Crossovers like these are by no means a new thing for Fortnite. The game’s last season was a multimonth Marvel mashup, there have been multiple Star Wars-themed cosmetics, other real-world streamers added to the game include Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten, and there have even been concerts (and accompanying in-game cosmetics) featuring huge artists like Travis Scott and Marshmello.
To me, the crossovers are part of the continuing appeal of Fortnite — where else can I play as Kratos and face off against Iron Man? — and each new addition helps Epic build the ultimate virtual world. But the crossovers also give Epic opportunities to bring in more cash, which might help make up for the game’s absence on iOS. The battle royale hit is free to play, so each new brand appearance is a chance for Epic to get people to pay for items from the in-game store or sell one of its seasonal battle passes.
Don’t expect the crossovers to stop anytime soon. The Predator just joined Fortnite, but Epic is already teasing the arrival of Sarah Connor from The Terminator franchise. That probably means there will be a Terminator cyborg skin, too — and if there is, that means you’ll be able to pit the Terminator against the Predator in a fight for the ages. Just hope that Mando doesn’t butt in.