Savvy Fortnite fans noticed some curious potential leaks during the recent State of Unreal stream.
Epic Games held its latest Unreal Engine 5.0 event yesterday. The team at Epic showcased the game engine’s newest version before formally releasing it to game developers. Many popular titles, including Valorant and PUBG Mobile, actively utilize Unreal Engine 4.0, and many future games will operate on Unreal Engine 5.0. One of the games currently running UE5 is the ultra-popular Fortnite Battle Royale–an Epic-developed title.
Fortnite appeared briefly during the UE5 press conference. Fans anxiously anticipated news on the rumored Creative 2.0 feature in Fortnite. Instead, Epic may have leaked upcoming crossover characters in the Battle Royale game, including Darth Vader, Doomguy and Family Guy.
Darth Vader Referenced During UE5 Stream
During the State of Unreal showcase there was a segment showing the Intro Cinematic for Ch3 – S1.
On the second monitor you can see some folders such as:
– Family Guy
– Chapter 3 – Season 3 Jones
– Chapter 3 – Season 3 – Vader
– Doom
and some other filesSpotted by @polaqwym pic.twitter.com/CmfQ2lUxs0
— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) April 5, 2022
Curious onlookers drew their attention to a screen off in the background during the UE5 reveal. Fortnite leaker iFireMonkey captured the moment when a list of folders appeared alongside the Chapter 3 Season 1 intro cinematic. Three folder names stood out amongst the pack, named C3S3VADER, Doom and FamilyGuy. It’s certainly not the most concrete evidence in history, but certainly something we can expect down the line.
Starting with Vader, it would stand to reason that this references the iconic Darth Vader from the Star Wars Universe. Fortnite and Stars Wars have collaborated multiple times before; one such occasion occurred in Chapter 2 Season 1 and featured in-game lightsabers. The most recent crossover revolved around The Book of Boba Fett series on Disney+.
Sooooo many secrets here… pic.twitter.com/zFLBmbooa9
— Donald Mustard (@DonaldMustard) April 5, 2022
Hayden Christensen is set to reprise his role as Darth Vader in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The show debuts on May 27, and Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 3 arrives on June 3. Furthermore, Epic Games Chief Creative Officer Donald Mustard posted a picture of Chewbacca and C3P0 wall art on social media yesterday; Mustard is famous for teasing Fortnite-related collaborations. Based on this information, we could likely see Darth Vader become a Battle Pass character.
Doom & Family Guy Crossover?
Doom is somewhat of a more random inclusion than Darth Vader. The id Software-developed Doom series is iconic in its own right, starring the famous Doomguy space marine lead as the protagonist. Doom Eternal was the last entry to the franchise, and there are no known sequels in development. Still, Master Chief arrived in Fortnite unexpectedly; the Doom collaboration could be in the same situation.
The Family Guy nod is somehow more realistic than Doom. Leaks regarding a potential Fortnite x Family Guy crossover appeared early last year, but never came to fruition. Fans have since joked about the potential of a Peter Griffin character in-game.
If accurate, we could see a Darth Vader, Doom and Family Guy collaboration in the coming months. Other folders on the screen include LeBron James, Morty and Loki. These three characters have in-game cosmetic outfits, lending legitimacy to the theory. We’ll have to wait and see what Epic has planned for this Fortnite season and beyond.
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