Fortnite Clearly Failed To Get Mario And Link For Override
Fortnite Fans Are Convinced They've Spotted Link And Mario Impersonators In Override
Fortnite has managed to pull in countless gaming franchises into its ever-expansive roster over the years, adding in heroes, villains, and items from indie and triple-A games alike. Even with the precedent as one of the most ambitious crossover games ever made already in place, Fortnite's newest override season is pushing things even further with dozens of iconic game characters being added at once.
While fans are already praising the new season for its massive amount of offerings with new content, game modes, and cosmetics to look forward to, some players have been spotting hidden references that suggest even Fortnite has its limits on which characters it can bring over into the battle royale, with Nintendo still being far out of reach.
Epic Isn't Fooling Anyone With These Cosmetics
Despite including characters from Disney, Sony, and countless other big-budget companies, X users like Lilifying are pointing out how two of the cosmetics coming in the new event look ridiculously close to Link from The Legend of Zelda and possibly even Mario from Mario Kart that might have been wearing a cat suit in the original design.
While these could be chalked up to being simple references if they were released in isolation, the fact that the two cosmetics were shown front and center in both the promotional images and even the animated trailer for the new season feels like all the evidence we need to assume they were scrapped at some point after failing to get the rights from Nintendo.
Although plenty of fans are saddened that they still won't be able to play as their favorite Nintendo characters in Fortnite, other X users like NeoAyden were quick to jump on the theory by joking "that ain't Link, that's URL." Plenty of other fans have jumped on the bandwagon by crowning the Link lookalike with names like "shortcut", "chain", and "htlm" among other internet-related derivatives.
This Wouldn't Be The First Time Nintendo Rejected Epic
While jokes like "that's not the Hero of Time, that's the Saviour of Spans" are helping get over the disappointment of a potential last-minute Nintendo cut, it wouldn't be the first time Fortnite has failed to secure a deal with the global gaming company. Just a few years ago, it was revealed Samus Aran was originally going to be coming to Fortnite under Nintendo's condition that it would only be viewable on the Switch.
Given that Fortnite is built upon cross-platform multiplayer, it's not hard to see why Epic decided against the original collaboration idea that would have blocked the skin from appearing on other systems, which could have possibly been the same stipulation that prevented Link and Mario from making their way to the live service experience.
Although there's still a chance that Nintendo characters could make their way over to Fortnite at some point in the future, the studio isn't exactly starving for other companies eager to collaborate with them in the meantime, at least.