Epic Games Wants Nintendo Characters in Fortnite But it’s as Hard as “Making Diamonds”

Fortnite has had some amazing crossovers in the past, scoring huge brands such as Star Wars and Marvel. However, there’s one collaboration that developer Epic Games hasn’t been able to pull off yet, but it wants to: Nintendo.

Players love Fortnite for its delightful and immersive battle royale mode and the plethora of cosmetics they can earn every few months through the game’s Season Passes. Most of these skins are brilliant, but some stand out from the crowd, such as Peter Griffin in the recent Chapter 5 Season 1 update. However, Epic Games hasn’t been able to secure one collaboration it would love to get in the game: Nintendo characters.

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Fortnite Could Get Nintendo Characters It Never Considered Thanks to Age Rating

Players get incredibly excited when there’s a new Fortnite crossover with an established brand or franchise. In the past, we’ve seen various Star Wars events and skins, Attack on Titan, and just today, developer Edmund McMillen appears to have closed a deal for The Binding of Isaac X Fortnite crossover. Nintendo and its characters have never even been hinted at as potential skins or events, though.

In a recent interview with Epic Games’ EVP Saxs Persson, Axios Gaming Newsletter author Stephen Totilo asked why there’d never been a Nintendo crossover. Persson’s reply suggests it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do. “I don’t know what the word for, like, making diamonds is.” This was picked up by a few Fortnite leakers, such as Shiina, today amid the launch of the Fortnite Festival.

Persson explained why the collaboration has been so challenging to get off the ground. “Nintendo has their strategy, and we have our strategy, and we hope at some point.” It’s not only that Nintendo is a Japan-based company and Epic Games is based in the US; both companies have incredibly different office cultures.

However, the same article suggests that the collaboration isn’t off the cards. Thinking about this from Nintendo’s perspective from the outside looking in, Fortnite must have dozens of franchise crossovers lined up, so they won’t stop coming anytime soon. There’s plenty of time to work on a Mario skin for the game in years to come.

Throw into the ring the fact that Fortnite’s age rating is slightly higher than might first have been expected, and the door is opened to many more crossovers with characters neither Nintendo nor Epic Games could have dreamed of. We’d love to believe this means we’ll get a Metroid crossover one day.