Breakdown
- Former Epic Games CCO Donald Mustard confirmed Samus was close to joining Fortnite
- Nintendo was happy with the idea but wanted the skin to only be visible on Nintendo Switch
- Epic Games rejected the proposition and the deal fell off
If you've ever wondered why we haven't seen the likes of Samus Aran, Mario, or Donkey Kong in Fortnite, former Chief Creative Officer at Epic Games Donald Mustard has revealed the reason - it's thanks to Nintendo.
In an interview with Game File, Mustard confirmed leaks that surfaced back in 2021 regarding the inclusion of iconic bounty hunter Samus Aran during Chapter 2 Season 5, titled Zero Point.
According to Mustard, Nintendo was actually thrilled at the idea of having their characters appear in the battle royale. Sadly for Fortnite fans, the demands from the company weren't reasonable for Epic, as they wanted the skins and any other Nintendo-related cosmetics to be visible only by Switch players or anyone using a Nintendo platform in the future.
They would be thrilled to have Nintendo characters in Fortnite, but just only if it's on their platform. For me and for all of Epic, we're like, 'That is an absolute must. We want to make sure that Fortnite is the same experience, no matter what screen or device you're playing on.'
Including Samus during Zero Point made perfect sense, as the story revolved around Jonesy recruiting bounty hunters from across reality, with Star Wars' Mandalorian making a presence among others.
During the season's live event, two gaming figures popped up to help Jonesy - PlayStation's Kratos and Xbox's Master Chief, with the idea of having Samus be the Nintendo representative.
Initial reports when the collaboration didn't happen pointed at a fallout between both companies, a surprising fact at the time considering a Samus silhouette was spotted in a Batman x Fortnite tie-in comic, implying Epic was confident in landing the deal so much so they started including teasers.
Even if you don't want to take Mustard's word for it, there is a precedent of companies meeting Nintendo's demands, one example being Rocket League.
Two years before Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games in 2019, the indie developer landed a massive deal with Nintendo that saw the Switch version of Rocket League get themed cosmetics around Mario, Luigi, and Samus.
As you can imagine, players on other platforms not only couldn't get access to them, but they couldn't even see them in-game. If an Xbox or PlayStation player matches against a Switch player using these cosmetics, they'll see default designs instead.
It's typical Nintendo fashion. Being open to collaborating while stuck in their own ways of making deals is definitely disappointing, especially if we consider neither Microsoft nor Sony had the same demands, with PlayStation users able to see and play as Master Chief, and Xbox players having the ability to earn Kratos or other Sony characters, such as Aloy from the Horizon franchise.
In any case, we're still hopeful that Nintendo will eventually join the pantheon of gaming companies already present in the battle royale. Speaking of which, did you know Square Enix and Atlus could be next in line with rumoured Final Fantasy and Persona Fortnite crossovers?