Any gamer who is even remotely familiar with Fortnite is well aware of the title's penchant for crossover skins. From other gaming franchises, to comics, to films, to novels, and more, a good chunk of pop culture has found its way into Fortnite. The well-established trend continues this week, with Fortnite's latest outside addition coming in the form of real-life tennis pro Naomi Osaka.
Developer Epic Games' enduringly popular free-to-play battle royale title is currently in the final weeks of its first Chapter 3 season. Over the course of the season Fortnite has steadily added new skins both original and from outside IP, like X-Men's Rogue and Gambit, although Naomi Osaka's introduction ends the hiatus of adding real-world celebrities into the game.
Naomi Osaka marks Fortnite's return to the Icon Series, which adds prominent content creators and celebrities as skins in the game. The four-time Grand Slam champion comes in two distinct variants: the Naomi Osaka Outfit, featuring unicorn-esque color pallete clothes remniscent of her tennis origins, and the Dark Priestess Outfit, which gives her somewhat of a witch doctor vibe. Both outfits come with their own set of matching accessories. Players can try unlocking the skins early in the Naomi Osaka Solos Cup today, which will reward players who score at least 8 points the Forbidden Ace Spray.
The two different outfits, while distinctly different from each other, both give the professional tennis player an ethereal vibe, similarly to what was done with the last entry in the Icon Series, Ariana Grande. Released last fall, the pop star singer also came with several variants that also give her the appearance of a demigod. In addition to her standard skin, Rift Goddess Ariana was released, replacing her regular clothing with rift crystals. Fortnite later released another Ariana Grande skin, Spacefarer, which itself came with the A. Grande variant. While Naomi has only two outfits, Fortnite may have more planned for the tennis star.
The release of the Naomi Osaka cosmetics isn't the only new thing Fortnite is introducing this week. Yesterday was the rollout of Fortnite update patch v19.40, which adds several new things to the game. The most notable update is the new Spider-Man-themed week, dubbed the Amazing Web Week. From now until March 8, Spider-Man's Web Shooters can be found as Chest Loot in addition to the coveted traversal item's usual spawn points. The update also allows players to choose the time of day during replays, and adds proximity voice chat to Imposters Mode, allowing players to hear others near their character.
Being one of the world's most prominent tennis players, the Naomi Osaka Icon Series skin is sure to be a widely purchased cosmetic. Never resting, another crossover skin may already be on the way, with rumors swirling of another Fortnite crossover with Batman in the works.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.