Whether you love licensed skins or not, there’s no denying that Fortnite collabs bring a lot of money and attention to the game. There’s already an abundance of collabs, and Epic doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. Some fans argue that they’d rather see original skins, rather than yet another superhero. On the other side of things, it’s still pretty awesome to queue up as your favorite characters, or even take part in events that almost seem too grand for Fortnite. While some collabs simply put out iconic skins in the shop, others have come with in-game events and new weapons. Out of all of the Fortnite collabs out thus far, here are some of the most memorable.
10. Stranger Things
Stranger Things was one of the earlier collabs that Fortnite had, but it still holds up in comparison to others. With so many collabs, it’s hard for Epic to really bring much to the equation aside from a few skins. Stranger Things stands out from the rest because this collab came with some map changes alongside skins for Chief Hopper and the Demagorgon.
In this season of Fortnite, they introduced the Mega Mall, which was quite reminiscent of the Starcourt Mall from Stranger Things, but with a futuristic twist. In the Mega Mall, players were able to visit Scoops Ahoy, which looked almost identical to the one where Robin and Steve worked on the show. There were also some creepy portals to the upside-down around the map, the one downside being that we weren’t actually able to enter them.
9. Borderlands
As of recently, Fortnite has been experimenting with an anime art style for cosmetics, but one of their first massive cell shading changes was actually during the Borderlands event. This event came with a Clap Trap skin and even brought Pandora from Borderlands onto the Fortnite map.
On Fortnite, Pandora was in its own bubble and once you entered it, it felt as if you were actually playing Borderlands because they replicated the art style to a T. Not only was that part of the map different, but every Fortnite skin would have a different shading over them once they entered Pandora. As of now, this is still the only time Fortnite has ever created a part of a map with a totally different artistic shading over it, which makes the Borderlands collab unique enough for the 9th spot.
8. Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball arrived in Fortnite with two skins, an event tab with quests for players to complete in order to unlock rewards, a few changes to the map, and a new weapon. While there have been a few collabs with other anime before, there was way more hype surrounding Dragon Ball, along with more content.
For starters, we were really given a chance to fight Dragon Ball style by picking up the Kamehameha, which launched a powerful energy beam that was equally as devastating as the Comet Azur on Elden Ring. Players were also able to use the Nimbus cloud to travel around the map faster. Bounty boards were replaced with versus boards, in which two warriors’ locations were revealed to each other for a 1v1. Not only that, but the Kame House was also added to the map, along with the NPC Bulma who would give players some helpful items. Son Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, and Beerus were all added to the item shop, which is quite a handful of skins for one collab.
7. Batman
Batman is undoubtedly one of DC’s most popular heroes, so seeing the character finally brought to Fortnite after the abundance of Marvel heroes was quite a shock. What made this collab extra special is that he came with Catwoman as well.
Of course, they couldn’t bring the two iconic heroes by themselves, so they replaced Tilted Town with Gotham City. Gotham was filled with Batman Easter eggs, such as the Wayne Enterprises tower, GCPD cars all around, and the Monarch Theater where Bruce Wayne lost his parents. Similarly to the Borderlands collab, Gotham City was also in its own bubble, and once you entered, it automatically became night-time. There were special sound effects such as police sirens that really gave it that Gotham feel. Not only that, but players were able to deploy the bat glider at will, which made for even more exciting fights.
6. Indiana Jones
Fortnite might have a reputation for being a kids’ game, but the fact that they had Indiana Jones as their C3S3 secret skin proves they have a solid older fanbase as well. Overall, Indiana Jones was one of the more unexpected collabs. Other classic films like Alien, Ghostbusters, and Robocop have also received collaborations, but Fortnite really went above and beyond for Indy.
Indiana Jones received not one, but two different styles for his cosmetic; one from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the second from Temple of Doom. His addition to the battle pass also came with two new map locations that were clearly themed after his movies named The Temple and The Ruins. In The Temple, there was a pretty fun mini-game in which players had to first do a puzzle to open the structure, then collect a special artifact while avoiding traps. After the artifact was collected, the player would then have to run away from a rolling boulder that triggered. It really made you feel like you were on an Indiana Jones adventure.
5. Avengers: Endgame
Fortnite’s collab with Avengers: Endgame was a huge moment, one reason being that Endgame was the biggest film of the year. With Marvel building up to Endgame for so long, there was already a lot of hype around seeing the Avengers battle Thanos.
No one would have expected that fans would also get to duke it out with the warlord on Fortnite as well. Fortnite’s Endgame collab brought a new mode, in which players would be able to wield Thor’s Stormbreaker, Hawkeye’s bow, Iron Man’s repulsors, and Captain America’s shield. Battlers were divided into two teams, The Avengers vs Thanos and the Chitari. One player would be randomly selected as Thanos, and of course, he was incredibly OP. This game mode was super fun to play and was certainly the highlight of the collab, but there were also two Marvel skins released for Black Widow and Star-Lord as well.
4. Marshmello
It would be disrespectful to talk about the best Fortnite collabs and fail to mention the first concert that was ever on Fortnite. This event brought millions of players to the game and was truly a unique experience. Fortnite has had plenty of concerts since this one, but the Marshmello showcase still stands out because it was a live concert, while many of the others weren’t.
Marshmello’s Fortnite concert had everyone queueing up to the game with their friends, and really helped distinguish Fortnite as more than just a battle royale, but an actual community. While dancing on Fortnite was usually something only done after getting an elimination, this brought a new purpose to emotes as players got to use their favorite dances all throughout the event. There was also a Marshmello skin and emotes in the shop that so many people were rocking, even after the concert was over.
3. Ariana Grande
Following the Marshmello concert, it’s easy to see how much Fortnite has improved. Concerts went from just watching an avatar perform on stage, to full-blown events that take players off the Fortnite map.
Ariana Grande’s concert started off with a few minigames in which players were able to race each other and then defeat a giant monster while competing for a high score. We also got to jump around in a fluffy, colorful world that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Afterward, everyone was transported to space to watch a giant Ariana Grande perform. Players traveled across space to then watching Ariana swing in the clouds while riding flying llamas around her, which was truly unlike anything we’d ever seen on Fortnite before. This event also came with an Ariana Grande skin that has two edit styles, and honestly, both styles are probably the most glamorous Fortnite skins to this day.
2. Star Wars
Star Wars crashed into Fortnite before the release of Rise of the Skywalker, with skins for Rey, Finn, and a Sith Trooper. These were the first of many Star Wars skins that would later come to the game. One of the most surprising aspects of the Star Wars collab is that it also came with a live event that featured director J.J. Abrams, actor Ben Schwartz, and journalist Geoff Knightley.
This event differed from some of the others, as it was one in which we were able to view a scene from Rise of the Skywalker before the movie came out. After the scene, players were prompted to choose their favorite lightsaber color, which they were then able to wield in battle after the event. This was the first time that lightsabers were added to Fortnite, and they’re still one of the most fun limited-time weapons in the game. Fans love the lightsabers so much, people are constantly asking for them to be brought to the shop as pickaxes.
1. Nexus War
Fortnite Nexus War, aka the Chapter 2 Season 2 battle pass consisted of exclusively Marvel collectibles. While this wasn’t the first time that Fortnite had licensed characters featured in the battle pass, it was the first and only time that the entire pass was licensed. For some, this one may have been overwhelming, but it was certainly something to talk about. Fans were able to unlock heroes such as Thor, Iron Man, Groot, Storm, Mystique, She-Hulk, and Wolverine.
Other than just the battle pass, the Nexus War pass brought in plenty of map changes which included a sentinel graveyard, Jessica Walter’s office, and Doom’s Domain. Players were able to defeat Doctor Doom and his Doom Bots as a minigame, which then allowed them to use the villain’s mystical bomb and gauntlets. Players were also able to destroy Stark Drones, which gave them access to superhero powers like Groot’s shield, Iron Man’s repulsor gauntlets, Thor’s hammer, and more. To close things off, the season ended with an interactive event in which everyone could help the Avengers battle Galactus. It was hard to choose between the Nexus War and Star Wars for first place, but when it comes down to it, Nexus War brought way more cosmetics to the table, and seeing all the players unite to throw tomatoes at Galactus’ face as he tried to eat us was an unforgettable experience.
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