Not too long ago, Epic Games teamed up with Marvel to incorporate a crossover event in Fortnite that saw the addition of the limited time Infinity Gauntlet mode in which fans can seek after the titular glove from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to turn themselves into Thanos and fight other players. Naturally, the Venn Diagram of gamers and comic book lovers has a big overlap, leading to the LTM being incredibly well-received, with many wondering how such a mashup came to be. With this being the case, Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo and Epic Games worldwide creative director Donald Mustard recently explained the mode's origins to Entertainment Weekly.
Interestingly enough, Avengers: Infinity War co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo happen to be huge fans of Fortnite, with the two using the sandbox survival title as a means to relax in between editing sessions of the aforementioned film. This led to the brothers brainstorming with one another about how to bring both worlds together, with Joe Russo saying, "We started thinking, how cool would it be to have some kind of Avengers–Fortnite mashup? So we stalked Donald."
According to Mustard, it didn't take long to get the ball rolling on Fortnite's Infinity Gauntlet mode after Joe Russo got in contact with him, as the Epic Games head and Avengers: Infinity War co-director talked over the phone and hashed out a rough structure of how the gameplay would work. Of course, both expressed how one of the most crucial elements involved in the Limited Time Mode's construction was that the Thanos crossover had to feel organic. As explained by Mustard:
"Out of the blue, I get this call from Joe. And after a bit of geeking out over each other’s work, we start brainstorming these crazy ideas. It was really important that whatever we did, it had to be super authentic to both Fortnite and the Avengers: Infinity War, and something that fans of both would be excited about. About an hour later, we had the bones of this awesome idea for a limited time gameplay mode, and almost immediately our team got started."
While some may see this particular collaboration between two Hollywood directors and a gaming company head as a strange occurrence, it really isn't as peculiar as it looks on paper, especially when one considers the popularity of Fortnite and how video games as a whole have now become a major staple of mainstream culture. After all, the rapper Drake made an appearance during a livestream with the Twitch personality Ninja just to play the Battle Royale title, showing that no matter what one's background is, video games can be universal.
Fortnite is available now in early access for iOS, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Entertainment Weekly