Fortnite has easily become the biggest behemoth in the gaming industry. Once a survival-based, co-op shooter, now free-to-play battle royale extravaganza, Fortnite has become the hottest way to advertise intellectual properties. Fortnite has seen plenty of crossover events bring characters from all over the entertainment industry into its fold: John Wick, the Avengers, Star Wars characters, Batman and more have appeared in the game's setting.
At time of writing, 30+ properties have seen some sort of skin, reference, or event tied into the game. As Fortnite continues to rise in popularity, even more crossover events have been announced -- and at this point, it's getting a little out of hand.
The newest season of Fortnite, Chapter 2, Season 5: Zero Point, has proven no property is too outlandish to be included in a crossover event. The "bounty hunter" event began a short time ago, introducing the Mandalorian and Kratos from God of War. At the Game Awards, Daryl and Michonne from The Walking Dead were announced, as well as Master Chief from Halo.
On the outset, the seemingly ceaseless crossover events can be fun, but they're slowly beginning to fall out of favor with fans because of the oversaturation -- not to mention the seeming lack of actual character curation.
Crossover events are nothing new to video games, but most properties exhibit some self-control. Careful curation is put into building these characters and making sure that they fit the image and tone of what the game is going for.
Mortal Kombat 11 introducing characters such as Rambo and RoboCop makes sense in that universe, since those characters come from ultra-violent franchises that fit MK's tone. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate mostly pulls in characters from third-party franchises that have seen some sort of release on a Nintendo console. The same can be said for Tekken, which largely brings in characters from other fighting game franchises.
Fortnite's strategy for crossover events seems to be nabbing whatever property it can, whether it makes sense tonally or not. Every character pulled into Fortnite retains the cartoony art style of the game, but the franchises these characters come from don't always appeal to the game's core demographic.
Halo might make sense for Fortnite, but pulling Kratos from a series known for its graphic violence and sexual content is a bit of a head-scratcher. The same can be said for Daryl and Michonne from The Walking Dead, which is a rather gory television show additionally filled with substance abuse, coarse language and some sexual content.
Fortnite has passed the threshold from overcrowded to ridiculous, with many people interpreting the game as merely a marketing tool for other IPs. However, the release strategy of overcrowding the skin market with bonkers character introductions actually works. This more cynical side of Fortnite has become increasingly more obvious with screenings of popular Christopher Nolan films in the game, leading up to Tenet, the whole Apple lawsuit situation, concerts from famous musicians and even key story details for The Rise of Skywalker being locked as an in-game event.
While it probably won't come to pass, it would be nice to see Fortnite take a step back from absorbing every single entertainment property imaginable for some crossover event, and reflect on what might make the best additions to the game to fit its world and tone.
The Fortnite crossover train obviously won't stop any time soon, but a more careful selection of games and properties to match its aesthetics would make it feel far less bloated, instead of the cavalcade of advertising for shows and games kids should not partake in.