Apple and Epic Games' legal grudge match might have only just got underway in court, but a lot has come out since then. This ranges from details on Epic Games' exclusivity deals to hints about crossovers and skins for Fortnite.
One of the knock-on effects of the titanic battle is a slew of leaked documents, which point towards a number of intriguing potential collaborations heading to Fortnite. If even half of these still come to fruition within the battle royale shooter, there could be a lot more than expected coming to the Battle Island.
Samus Joins the Fight
Even though Fortnite has a dedicated player-base on all three of the major home consoles, only PlayStation and Xbox have so far been graced with crossover skins. Provided the plans at the heart of the legal documents are still in some form of motion, that imbalance could be set to change via the introduction of a Nintendo’s Samus Aran.
The Metroid protagonist was originally penciled in to launch alongside Kratos and Master Chief at the end of 2020, but was seemingly pushed back like a majority of the cosmetics unveiled in court due to the ongoing pandemic. Recent developments like the introduction of a second Sony representative in Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Aloy means there’s still more than enough life in the Gaming Legends series to believe the hero will eventually make it onto the island, and line-up against other icons like Lara Croft and Chun-Li.
A Red Carpet Affair
If Epic Games keeps delving into the world of TV and cinema for cosmetic inspiration, Fortnite could conceivably end up having more Hollywood talent washing up on its shores than most big-budget ensemble movies. At one point, there were plans to bring Die Hard’s John McClane, The Bride from Kill Bill, and Escape From New York’s Snake Plissken to the action-hero inspired antics of Season 5. With the season having now passed on to a more feral hunter themed motif, there’s less scope for these icons to still make it into the game in a logical manner. Howeve, considering players can don a Xenomorph from Alien skin whenever they want, the general rule for Fortnite is to never say never.
Two additional characters from the big and small screen that have been seen in court could still make their way into Fortnite more conventionally. Both Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Naruto’s titular ninja were at one stage on the drawing board, and both would fit into Fortnite’s current season for different reasons.
Festival Headliners
Having already romped to success with the in-game Travis Scott concert last year to the tune of 12.3 million concurrent players, Epic’s decision to chase similar musical talent isn’t as shocking as it once would’ve seen. The fact it looks to have got musical royalty in the form of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande on-board is admittedly an impressive feat of marketing.
Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney highlighted during a recent round of Sony-backed investment that there was plans to more routinely leverage the music industry, so it’s a safe bet that these plans in-particular haven’t been dropped entirely. With the traditional summer festival season still in turmoil due to the pandemic, there’s a perfect opportunity for Fortnite to once again step into the spotlight.
NBA
One potential aspect of the leak that could have more layers to it is the proposed Lebron James and NBA crossover. There’s already a precedent for sporting icons getting coverage within Fortnite, with the NFL being just one of the sports disciplines already found within the battle royale shooter. What would make this collaboration unique though is the leaked basketball mode uncovered within the court legal documents, with development already likely finished on any potential LTM, the likelihood of all that work being scrapped entirely seems slim.
Smelling what The Rock was Cooking
One of the more feverish topics circling Fortnite during Season 5 has been the speculation regarding Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his potential connections to The Foundation - the character who kicked off this season in heroic cinematic glory. Heavily teased at by the wrestler-turned actor himself, the Apple vs Epic fallout also revealed that some form of collaboration between the two parties is slated to happen in the near future.
No matter what twists the Apple vs Epic legal tussle takes next, there’s certainly going to be more Fortnite crossovers and collaborations on the cards in some shape or form. Within the last week, for example, there’s already been a new Batman skin and collaboration with Paris Saint Germain star Neymar, which means the only question is which part of pop culture will be absorbed into the phenomenon next?
Fortnite is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.