Fortnite Wanted Metroid Collab, Nintendo Wanted Exclusivity

A Samus skin that couldn't.

Image credit: Nintendo | Metroid Prime Remastered

There is hardly any video game as filled with crossover content as Fortnite. However, attentive players might notice a glaring lack of Nintendo characters there, and the reason is what you expect from the Switch creator.

In an interview with Game File (via The Gamer), former Fortnite boss Donald Mustard revealed that Epic Games wanted to collaborate with the Japanese company for the Zero Crisis Finale in March 2021 and release Metroid's Samus Aran. While Nintendo was "thrilled" to work together, it had a condition: the character was supposed to appear in the Switch version of Fortnite only.

Understandably, Epic Games did not agree to make one version of its popular game different from the others – everyone should be able to play the same game with the same content.

"For me and for all of Epic, we’re like, 'That is an absolute must. We want to make sure that Fortnite is the same experience, no matter what screen or device you're playing on,'" Mustard said.

So it seems unlikely we'll see Mario or The Legend of Zelda characters in Fortnite any time soon.

Considering Nintendo's fierce protectiveness over its IPs, the exclusivity demand is not surprising. The company is known for monitoring the internet trying to find people who use its games in any way it doesn't like. It has a certain reputation due to its desire to sue left and right, which is why many players were shocked it didn't take Palworld creators to court. One of its latest potential targets was the developers of the Yuzu emulator for Switch.

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