Fortnite x Batman teaser confirms release date and start time for the event
It's really happening!
Epic Games officially confirmed a Batman crossover for Fortnite: Battle Royale Friday morning via Twitter, and there’s already a video placeholder on YouTube detailing exactly when the launch video will go live.
Both the tweet and YouTube video confirm that the “Fortnite X Batman” event will begin at 8 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, September 21. “Tune in tomorrow, September 21 at 8AM ET to earn a free in-game reward for watching the premiere!” reads the description on YouTube.
Why September 21? That’s Batman Day, an annual holiday established by DC Comics in 2014 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Batman’s debut in Detective Comics volume 1, number 27 way back in 1939. This crossover is presumably a celebratory publicity stunt coordinated directly by DC Comics to celebrate Batman’s 80th birthday, and a crossover with Fortnite is the go-to method of promoting just about anything to a younger crowd. In cities around the world, real-life Bat signals will project the famed Batman symbol against various buildings to honor the Dark Knight.
Epic Games tweeted a confirmation exactly 24 hours before the event goes live.
On Thursday, Epic Games released a new limited-time mission set of challenges called “Gothic,” and the Week 8 loading screen attached to these challenges looks an awful lot like Gotham City. But even before that, data-miners looked into the version 10.31 update from earlier this week and found leaked cosmetics and items that are explicitly Batman-themed.
When the event does go live, fans can probably expect a cinematic video featuring Batman himself. When the third “Gothic” challenge unlocks around that same time, that’ll be the first opportunity players have to unlock the loading screen showing Gotham City. Most fans expect that Gotham City will temporarily replace Tilted as a new Rift Zone.
Data-miners like Lucas7yoshi have also discovered challenges specific to the Batman crossover that involve two new weapons — Explosive Batarangs and the Batman Grapnel Gun — along with some way to interact with Bat Signals.
Welcome to Gotham City featured Bat Signals, Batman Grapnel Guns, and Explosive Batarangs.
Players will be able to earn some fun themed cosmetics as part of these challenges, but there’s every reason to expect that Batman, Joker, and Batgirl skins might also arrive in the store. Fortnite players who are fans of the Dark Knight should start saving their V-Bucks now.
The Fortnite X Batman crossover event will begin Saturday, September 21 at 8 a.m. Eastern.
