Fortnite x Avatar crossover leaves some fans feeling ‘blue'
Mickey Mouse is extending his gloved hand and shaking on an 'epic' partnership with Epic Games. Considering the House of Mouse is arguably the biggest entertainment powerhouse out there, taking a slice of the Epic Games pie makes perfect sense.
This will likely mean big things for Fortnite, which has previously enjoyed plenty of Disney crossovers and even whole seasons dedicated to Marvel characters. Still, it's bigger for the Epic catalogue at large - teased by Rocket League's collab with The Mandalorian. However, there's one IP that has gamers divided.
Avatar is coming to Epic Games
Up there with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the might of Star Wars, Disney also owns the keys to the kingdom of Pandora. With the first two Avatar movies sitting in first and third place (Avengers: Endgame is second) in terms of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Epic could make some serious money off an Avatar collab.
As well as eagle-eyed fans spotting Avatar's Hallelujah Mountains, the official press release says the partnership "will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more."
While it's unclear what the future of this partnership holds, Mickey's $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games has already seen Disney's stock surge by 7%. It looks like a lucrative investment, and in the immediate future, we can at least expect more Disney skins in the Fortnite shop. But, that's not enough for Avatar.
Fortnite's Avatar collab leaves some feeling 'blue'
Not everyone was sold on the idea, fearing that we'll waste Avatar on Fortnite's tried-and-tested formula of the odd POI makeover, some new Mythic weapons, and overpriced skins in the item shop. If not, there could always be something more expansive, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mini-pass.
One pointed out how we've just had Frontiers of Pandora and said they're worried Fortnite won't do Avatar justice. The OP pointed to the inevitable skins and added, "That's like the bare minimum they HAVEEE to do something more with his whole big announcement and it being a separate game mode from battle royale too there's gotta be more."
Although there was plenty of hype for an Avatar-inspired expansion to Fortnite, others shared the same concerns. Another critic grumbled, "Man, this would sound so much cooler if it had nothing to do with Fortnite and didn’t involve “Avatar” (the James Cameron one). Ugh."
A third said, "Avatar is mid but other Disney characters could be awesome," and a fourth concluded, "No one gives a f**k about Avatar thats the last thing anyone wants in Fortnite." Still, there were plenty excited by the concept and who are are already saying RIP to their credit card statements.
The jury is out on what Avatar coming to Fortnite means. James Cameron didn't craft the diverse ecosystem of Pandora just to see a shrunken Jake Sully skin going for 1,5000 V-Bucks in the item shop, but then again, an Avatar-themed survival mode in the vein of LEGO Fortnite could mean big things for the gaming giant.
