Nintendo denied Epic Games permission to feature Metroid series protagonist Samus Aran in Fortnite, as this would have led to her appearance on other platforms.
Speaking during an interview, former Epic Games chief creative officer Donald Mustard revealed that Nintendo turned down Epic Games’ offer to bring Samus Aran to Fortnite alongside PlayStation’s Kratos and Xbox’s Master Chief, as this would have led to her appearance on other platforms.
Mustard said that Nintendo got “really hung up” on its characters showing up on platforms that weren’t its own. According to him, the console maker would be thrilled to have its characters in Fortnite, but just only if it’s specifically on its own platform. He mentioned that, for him and for all of Epic Games, having characters be available across all platforms is “an absolute must”. He added that the company wanted to make sure that Fortnite is the same experience, no matter what screen or device people are playing on. As such, the Samus collaboration between Epic Games and Nintendo didn’t go through.
It’s understandable why Epic Games wants all Fortnite characters to be available to everyone in the community. It also saves the development team the effort of having to implement a system to have platform-exclusive characters not be visible on other platforms. That said, Nintendo has always been protective of its IPs, and, therefore, the console maker’s decision doesn’t come as surprising.
Fortnite is Epic Games’ online multiplayer game and platform. It is available for macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, Android/iOS devices, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. The game includes six different modes: Fortnite Battle Royale, a free battle royale game where up to 100 players compete to be the last one standing; Fortnite: Save the World, a cooperative game blending tower defense and shooter elements where up to four players defend against zombie-like creatures; Fortnite Creative, allowing players to freely build worlds and battle arenas; Lego Fortnite, an open-world survival game; Rocket Racing, a racing game; and Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game.