Love them or hate them, Fortnite collaborations will always get a reaction from the internet. They’re flashy, they’re high-production, they’re recognizable. Even if they aren’t aesthetically pleasing, crossovers with the real world are still one of Fortnite’s biggest appeals and conversation starters.
In this day and age, if something becomes popular, its next natural step would be to drop into the Fortnite Item Shop. Players have already detected this pattern and are eagerly anticipating these fictional characters, artists, and personalities to transition to the battle royale island.
Epic Games' latest approach, however, tightens its chokehold grip on the gaming scene. Reports of The Office x Fortnite’s potential crossover have begun to spread online, leaving fans wondering what the timing behind the collaboration could possibly be to justify this juxtaposition of franchises. That’s exactly where the magic happens.
Trending isn’t the measuring stick anymore. If it was once popular, it belongs on the Battle Bus. Constant evergreen collaborations are now a mainstay in Fortnite, and The Office USA, which ended its TV run prior to GTA V’s release, is only the latest example.
We can see this same approach applied in last year’s massive Simpsons integration to the map, items, skins, and battle bus presentation. One of the world’s most recognizable cartoons was introduced to Fortnite with no apparent reason other than an "it would be cool" mentality.
Their best collaborations used to be tied to theatrical releases, album drops, and seasonal television with Marvel, Bruno Mars, and Stranger Things, respectively. Fortnite has been treated as a press tour stop for the last couple of years.
Now, Fortnite is a point of interest for any and all relevant media, both past and present. It’s the definitive bridge between mainstream media and the gaming world, opening its doors to current events and IPs as much as to classic, golden age licenses.
If gaming collaborations are a win-win for ongoing projects to increase reach and for video games to stay fresh and relevant, Fortnite’s evergreen meta pushes the limits in a way only Epic Games could. No other title has Fort’s catalogue and precedent, showing all missing IPs how much Epic will take care of their beloved character guidelines.
Pulp Fiction, Danny Phantom, Back To The Future, Power Rangers – all productions that have left the public eye in the last 15, 20, 30, 40 years. Fortnite recontextualizes them, inviting knowledgeable pop culture consumers with high-quality integrations and introducing newgens to mainstream media through one of the most popular platforms on planet earth.
What was once a rare occurrence is now Epic Games’ primary focus while still providing time-sensitive content for Avenger-level collaborations and global phenomena like Squid Games, Sabrina Carpenter, Superman, and Stranger Things, to name a few.
While some of these evergreen crossovers may feel unnatural due to the randomness of the collab, suddenly being able to eliminate players in the early game with Ghost Face will never not be welcomed by Fortnite mains. The game has never taken itself too seriously and is now well beyond the ridiculous threshold, and honestly, this is where gaming thrives.
The fidelity to the source material and the niche activated by the cult classics that are selected for collaborations are fundamental to the recent success of these drops. The least expected, the better, using shock factor and the element of surprise to Epic’s advantage. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and these collaborations are constant reminders of that.
This, inherently, leads to more conversation, reach, and player influx while reviving a relatively dead community, incentivizing newcomers and returning players, and providing new avenues for content creation, all with a single decision: make the irrelevant relevant again. Now, Fortnite Smash Bros. when?
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and opinions.