Fortnite rightfully owns the title of the undisputed king of crossovers in video games, and a look at the numbers shows the battle royale is adding more crossovers than original content.
Way back in 2018, when Fortnite was climbing the ranks at breakneck speed, the battle royale had its first-ever crossover. The Infinity Gauntlet was added to promote Avengers: Infinity War, allowing players to turn into Thanos as a part of a limited-time mode.
However, the first Marvel cosmetics wouldn’t make their way into the game until four seasons later with the arrival of Star-Lord and the original Black Widow skins. In fact, the first crossover cosmetics weren’t introduced until Chapter 1 Season 6 (NFL skins) followed by Marshmello in Season 7.
In the early days, crossovers were few and far between, but now they’re expected for every major movie, video game, and comic release. When looking at the numbers, it’s clear that Fortnite is steadily adding more crossover content than original cosmetics.
Fortnite’s Naruto collaboration was among its most anticipated yet.
Old Fortnite vs New Fortnite
When looking at Fortnite Chapter 1 compared to Chapters 2 & 3, the emphasis on crossovers is night and day. For reference, during the first 10 seasons, there were only 11 crossover “events” with some having a very minor impact on the game.
But in Chapter 2 Season 5 alone there were 15 different collaborations. This outnumbered the entirety of Chapter 1’s crossovers in just a single season.
Even at the beginning of Chapter 2, the emphasis on crossover content was clear with a massive Star Wars event followed by Ninja’s Icon Series debut and the Birds of Prey cosmetics jam-packed into a single season.
That would only be the start of the collab takeover. Crossover content would grow from 8% of new cosmetics added in Chapter 2 Season 1 to a staggering 52% in Chapter 3 Season 1.
Players could wield the power of Thanos in Fortnite’s first-ever crossover.Fortnite’s new cosmetics are mostly collabs
Looking at the numbers provided by Fortnite News, there have been 2,048 cosmetic items added since the start of Chapter 2. Of which, 522 of these items would be skins, pickaxes, Back Blings, gliders, and more derived from collaborations.
This shows that roughly 25% of all of Fortnite’s cosmetic items are crossovers which seems like a healthy balance at first. But looking at the growing percentage of collab content from season to season paints a different picture.
In Chapter 2 Seasons 1-3, less than 10% of all cosmetics were crossover inspired. But this quickly jumps up to 28% in Season 4 (the entirely Marvel-themed season) and steadily increases for the next 6 seasons.
In Chapter 2 Season 8 and Chapter 3 Seasons 1 & 2, an estimated 49% of all cosmetics added were crossover content. And in Chapter 3 Season 1, that number reached 52 percent marking the first season in which more licensed content was added to Fortnite than original content.
Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4 was an entire season dedicated to Marvel.
Is there really that much Marvel?
Players often complain that Marvel gets too much attention in Fortnite, but is that really the case? Again, we can turn to the numbers to find out.
According to Fortnite Wiki’s Marvel Series page, there are 312 Marvel cosmetics in Fortnite. Of the 522 crossover cosmetics in Fortnite, a whopping 60% of them are designated to the Avengers, three different Spider-Men, and miscellaneous supers from the MU.
It’s safe to say Marvel does have a massive presence in Fortnite’s cosmetic catalog. And the same can be said for crossover content in general.
If Fortnite continues with its steady increase in collaboration percentages per season, we might just see crossovers outweigh the game’s original content altogether.
