Fortnite
It has been a little while since Epic Games and Disney announced a “persistent universe” that would serve as a hub for Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars content within the Fortnite ecosystem. Now, we have a few more details on that, including the game finally running into a wall: No Mickey Mouse with a gun.
To date, all of Disney’s crossovers, be they Star Wars, Marvel or even The Incredibles, as of this past week, have allowed for its characters to wield guns so they are playable within Fortnite’s combat modes. But with this upcoming collaboration, we will reach a tier of skins where that won’t be allowed.
Here’s Epic EVP Saxs Persson speaking to The Verge on the topic:
“Not every outfit will be able to do everything,” Persson said. “A [Lego] minifig doesn’t hold a gun. Brands should be able to enforce the brand guidelines to the degree that they’re comfortable with that brand being associated with particular ratings….Some IPs are not teen IPs or mature IPs. They are E for everyone IPs.”
This leads into a somewhat muddled grey area where again, we now have Mr. and Mrs. Incredible from a PG Disney movie running around with automatic weapons. Reportedly in an upcoming “villain” series we will see Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook as well. Those original animated films are rated G, but there have been PG live-action versions of them since.
Moana
It feels like the lines will be drawn on a case-by-case basis. The only example given is that Lego minifigs don’t have guns. But again, where is the line? Moana is rated PG, so can we see her and Maui running around with guns to promote the sequel? The same with Frozen, a PG movie where Elsa and Anna could be tearing up duos. As you can see, even within a certain rating, there may be a division.
Some of this may also be logistical. Fortnite skins have a pretty specific profile that sometimes must be bent to fit characters inside of it (Peter Griffin) for instance. So in addition to being bad for the brand, you might not see Mickey in Battle Royale just because he’s well, pretty sure. I’m trying to imagine running around as Anger or Sadness from Inside Out as people attempt to target you when you come up to their waist.
But the point here is that in this “persistent universe” there will eventually be characters that are made purely for social purposes or for other, non combat-focused games. It makes sense, I just think it can be funny where these lines are drawn, given what we’ve seen so far.
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