Fortnite is one of the most successful and popular online experiences in history. Much of its charm lies in the multiple collaborations with guest franchises from movies, comics, anime, and, of course, video games. With such a great track record, it's impossible not to wonder why Nintendo characters are conspicuously absent.
Over the past few years, the successful Battle Royale by Epic Games has welcomed characters from PlayStation, such as Nathan Drake from Uncharted and Kratos from God of War; and from Xbox, such as Master Chief from Halo and Marcus Fenix from Gears of War.
Undoubtedly, it's exciting to see personalities from both companies together in the same online experience. Although the free-to-play game is also available for Nintendo Switch, none of Nintendo's intellectual properties have made an appearance. Why is that?
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Nintendo set this condition for Samus from Metroid to come to Fortnite
Previously, Saxs Persson, head of the Fortnite ecosystem, confessed that he would like to have Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and other Nintendo characters in the Battle Royale. Despite numerous attempts to make these collaborations happen, no effort yielded results because the Japanese company imposes certain requirements that are nearly impossible to meet.
Now, Donald Mustard, who served as creative director of the online game from 2016 to 2023, brought up the topic again in an interview and revealed a condition that Nintendo set for bringing one of its most popular characters to the Battle Royale.
In a recent interview, the creative revealed that they planned to include Samus Aran from Metroid as part of Zero Crisis Finale, an event that took place in 2021 where Kratos from PlayStation and Master Chief from Xbox had a small participation. Of course, the idea was to include all three companies in that ambitious crossover.
According to Donald Mustard, Nintendo was "delighted" with the idea of having their characters appear in Fortnite. However, they imposed a condition: Samus' skin and the rest of the collaboration items had to be exclusive to Nintendo Switch.
Because the Battle Royale is available on all platforms and there's even cross-play, Donald Mustard and his team considered it unfair to lock the skins to a single console, as they believe players should have access to all content. That's why the crossover with Metroid never materialized.
"I and everyone at Epic think that's absolutely necessary. We want to make sure Fortnite is the same experience, no matter what screen or device you play on," the creative commented in an interview with Game File.
But tell us, do you think Nintendo will change its policies and allow its characters to come to the multiplayer title? Let us know in the comments.
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