Fortnite

{{#if: FortniteLogo.jpg | {{#if: Epic Games | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Epic Games | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android | {{#if: July 21, 2017 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: ESRB: T | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: |

{{#if: |[[|«]]}} Fortnite {{#if: |[[|»]]}} {{#if: |[[|«]]}} {{#if: |[[|»]]}}
{{#if: Making families poorer since 2017! | Making families poorer since 2017!}}}}
{{#if: | {{#if: | (')}} {{#if:| ""}} }}
Developer	Epic Games}}
Developers	}}
Publishers	}}
Publisher	Epic Games}}
Writer	}}
Written by	}}
Additional writing	}}
Story	}}
Platform	}}
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android}}
Release date	July 21, 2017}}
End of service	}}
Continuity	}}
Chronology	}}
Rating	ESRB: T}}
Ratings	}}
Standard Retail Price	}}
[[|Credits]]}}

Fortnite is a massively popular online video game developed by Epic Games, most famous for its 100-player "Battle Royale" game mode where players battle it out until only one remains. In June 2023, themed skins and accessories based on Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal were made available as part of a Rise of the Beasts promotion. Additional skins and accessories based on Bumblebee, Megatron, and even a Transformer version of the Fortnite Battle Bus are set for release in October 2023.

Synopsis

Sadly, this is as close as we'll ever get to Dinobot showing up in Rise of the Beasts.

Given the game's widespread perception, it may be surprising to learn that Fortnite actually has a fairly complicated story that has played out in both the game and a few comic book tie-ins, involving characters and items from worlds throughout the omniverse, including (but far from limited to) the worlds of Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Star Wars, the Ghostbusters, and fellow Hasbro series G.I. Joe arriving in the dimension where Fortnite occurs. Compared to a couple other fictional universes involved in the game's plot, Transformers plays a relatively small (though not insignificant) role, so we'll try and keep this summary of the events leading up to the collab as concise as we can.

The Basics

Fortnite's Battle Royale mode takes place within a universe known as "Reality Zero", which primarily consists of a large island home to the "Zero Point", the nexus from which all existence emerged. This naturally makes it very powerful, and thousands of years before we enter the picture, a clandestine organization known as the Imagined Order (or "IO", for short) took control of the Zero Point and used it as a sort of omniversal teleporter to traverse the omniverse and adjust the various universes and realities within to fit their definition of "order". To ensure their control of the Zero Point and test strong individuals that might be worthy of joining their ranks, the IO also used the Zero Point to establish a time loop (referred to as simply "The Loop") on the island that renders its victims mute, restrains any superhuman abilities they might have, and nearly destroys one's memories and self-identity. These individuals, called "loopers", are forced to battle each other until one survives as a damaging storm closes in. At the same time, a mysterious, alien force known as the Last Reality has been traversing the omniverse and destroying reality after reality until only they remain, hence their name. These factions are opposed by "The Seven", a group dedicated to protecting the Zero Point and breaking the Loop at all costs.

Chapters 1-3

After the events of Chapter 1 (which can basically be described as "stuff happens without much context as to why, then the universe is destroyed and reborn"), the player's looper is shunted back and forth between the island and the IO's base of operations, "The Bridge", by the energy output of a powerful device built during Chapter 2's second "season" that tries (and fails) to destroy the storm, encountering IO agent John "Jonesy" Jones in the process. After the draining of a massive flood caused by the device, various heroes and villains from the Marvel universe are brought to the island at the behest of Thor, at the time the herald of Galactus due to events going on in his comic. With the help of the heroes, in particular the genius mind of Iron Man, the loopers are able to prevent Galactus from pulling a Unicron on the Zero Point and send the Marvel characters home, but not before Galactus rips the Zero Point from its hold in The Bridge, sending the IO into chaos. Agent Jones is ordered by his boss, Doctor Slone, to enter the Loop, reseal The Bridge, and prevent the loopers and anyone else from escaping; Jones goes about accomplishing the last task by hopping between realities (read: the worlds of other franchises) and dragging "hunters" into Reality Zero. This only causes the Zero Point to grow incredibly unstable, a problem the IO seemingly ignores, and an upset Jones decides he's going to ditch the IO and contact The Seven so they can fix things. One of their members, The Foundation, arrives and agrees to help in exchange for information about the IO's enigmatic founder, a man named Geno. Foundation is eventually forced to seal both himself and the Zero Point in a massive crystalline spire to prevent it from going haywire, but an artifact borne of the spire causes a spike in energy that draws the Last Reality to the island, who destroy the spire to get at the Zero Point, freeing The Foundation in the process. Slone works with (and inevitably betrays) the loopers to blow up the mothership that arrives, only for the alien cubes onboard to crash onto the island and summon various monsters and the alien Cube Queen, who opens a portal that summons her vast army, ready to destroy the island. As chaos ensues on the island, Jones is tortured by Slone for his betrayal, only to be rescued by The Foundation and other members of The Seven, who use a mechanism within The Bridge to flip the island upside down, defeating the Cube Queen and her forces.

In the aftermath, the present members of The Seven argue about how best to combat the IO when Slone and her forces emerge from the ground via drill tanks. The loopers then work with The Seven to take back the island and defeat Slone. A massive celebration party ensues, but the good times end when members of the Seven begin vanishing and an icky chrome substance, courtesy of the Last Reality, consumes and destroys the island, taking Reality Zero with it. However, thanks to the plans of the last surviving Seven member, the Zero Point is reawakened from a period of dormancy that followed the IO's defeat, and a process called "Zero Fusion" is used to reforge Reality Zero anew.

Chapter 4

After a day-long camping break, the player's looper returns to the island to find all of The Seven missing. AMIE, an AI created by one of The Seven, having gained free will as a consequence of their absence, becomes unstable (in the violent, psychologial sense), asking the player's looper to help her use the kinetic ore found on the new island to build her an exoskeleton so she can finally move about and interact with the world. The Oathbound, the main faction on the island and (seemingly) a past version of the Imagined Order, begins construction on a Rift Gate. The project's leader, The Warden (real name Stellan), has the player's looper assist in the project, which AMIE takes advantage of when a test of the Gate's capabilities reveals that The Scientist and the other Seven members are trapped and being "sculpted anew" by some dark entity. AMIE disconnects as her new body begins construction, and when the player's looper and Stellan activate the finished Rift Gate, things... don't go to either side's plan. The unstable Rift Gate creates a massive crack in the sky, which eventually opens up and drops a Japan-inspired landmass on top of part of the island. A largely-disconnected plot about uniting the syndicates of the region ensues.

The island soon begins experiencing earthquakes, which eventually cause a part of the island to crumble away and reveal a massive jungle that was hidden underground. Slone, as it turns out, survived her ordeal and was trapped here after Reality Zero was reforged. Now independent from the IO and working with a group of explorers (using them for her own means, naturally), she begins working to make her plans for the island a reality... whatever those are.

...Oh, and some guy named Optimus Prime begins sending messages to the island through the vehicle radios, warning the loopers of reality's impending collapse at the hands of some "formidable enemy" that's caught wind of the island's power fading.

Quotes

The following are a collection of Optimus Prime's in game voice lines. Unless specified otherwise, all of these lines could be heard in-game by tuning into the "Mysterious Transmission" radio station while driving a vehicle.

"I am Optimus Prime, and this message is to my allies. There is grave danger on the horizon. The power that once flowed through your island has faded, and formidable enemies have taken notice. You must brave the unknown... The answers you seek lie deep within the starless void that brought you here. Fight on, and roll out."

—Heard by accessing a mural within Rumble Ruins.

"Greetings. My name is Optimus Prime. If you are hearing this. The time has come to make your escape. This reality is doomed to collapse, but hope is not yet lost. I cannot sustain this broadcast for much longer. Listen and more will follow. "

—Week 1's radio transmission.

"I have been in contact with the one you call Slone. And while she may be an unlikely ally... She alone, knows the path forward."

—Week 2's radio transmission.

"Those who lived here long ago... discovered a secret hidden among the stars. The artifacts they left behind will guide you. You will find everything you need to study the stars hidden throughout the island."

—Week 3's radio transmission.

Transformers content

Several skins and accompanying accessories based on Transformers characters have been made available, either for purchase from the in-game shop or earnable through gameplay:

• A skin based on Optimus Prime was available as part of the Battle Pass for Chapter 4, Season 3, which began on June 9, 2023, to tie in with the release of Rise of the Beasts. The skin could only be unlocked after reaching level 100 and unlocking every other item on the pass, including a "Cybertronian Axe" pickaxe skin, an Autobot Emblem "Back Bling", an animated emoticon of the Autobot insignia morphing into the phrase "ROLL OUT!" and back, a graffiti tag of Optimus (based on the in-game skin, but labelled as "G1 Optimus Prime") posing in front of a silhouetted Cybertron, and a replacement for the game's loading screen featuring Prime rushing towards the camera. Gaining an extra 25 levels after finishing the Battle Pass allowed the player to earn some additional Transformers-themed "Bonus Rewards", including an "Autobot Signal Flare" contrail (a particle effect visible as the player falls towards the island), a "Battle-Tested" variation of the Prime skin with added battle damage, and a player banner based on the Autobot insignia. As Battle Pass rewards are only available via purchasing the Pass itself and then unlocking them, Prime and his associated items will become unobtainable following the end of Chapter 4, Season 3. Boo.
• Also as part of Chapter 4, Season 3, an Optimus Primal skin was made available alongside a Back Bling based on the Maximal insignia via the in-game shop for 1600 of the game's in-game currency, V-Bucks (roughly $12.78 US dollars), with his twin swords (referred to as "Sonic Swords") also available as a pickaxe skin for 800 V-Bucks; a bundle containing both sets was also added, costing 1800 V-Bucks. Unlike Battle Pass items, shop items do tend to return every so often, meaning that it's likely Primal will be brought back for short stints.
• A Fortnite Transformers Pack is scheduled for release in physical retailers on October 12, 2023, followed by a digital release on October 21. The pack will cost $24.99, and will include 1000 V-bucks, along with the following:
  • A Bumblebee skin, along with an accompanying "Flight of the Bumblebee" Back Bling and Stinger Sword pickaxe skin, which comes with a built-in "Battle Ready" emote.
  • A Megatron skin, along with an accompanying Decepticon Emblem Back Bling and an Energon Mace pickaxe skin, which comes with a built-in Fusion cannon emote.
  • A skin based on a hypothetical robot mode for the Fortnite Battle Bus, complete with a "Bot Air Balloon" Back Bling and a "Pick Axle" pickaxe skin. As the announcement is very careful to note that "BattleBus is not an official Transformers character", we do not currently cover it in depth.
• A series of "Transformers Quests" were made available for players to complete from June 9 to June 22, 2023, with each individual quest rewarding Battle Pass XP. Two additional rewards were also available, earned for completing enough quests overall: 5 quests earned the "Jungle King" spray (a graffiti tag of Optimus Primal), and 10 quests earned the "Maximize!" emoji (the Maximal equivalent of the aforementioned "Roll Out!" emoji).
• During Chapter 4, Season 3, a "Cybertron Cannon" was added to the list of possible weapon drops. Outside of the name and the fact that it transforms into a compact backpack bearing the Autobot insingia for the user when not in-hand, it doesn't have any real connection to Transformers.

Notes

• Bafflingly, while both the Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal skins have unique, built-in emotes, neither involves them transforming into their alt-mode; Prime's exclusive emote has him convert his arm into his arm cannon and then back again, while Primal's has him beat his chest and slam the ground. It's likely that Epic decided that it would be too confusing and unbalanced to have skins that cause the player's character (and therefore, their hitboxes and hurtboxes) radically change in size and shape, thereby giving those who bought the skins a competitive advantage over those who didn't.
• The "Autobot Signal Flare" contrail features the Transwarp Key appearing above the player and opening a portal.
• If the player has the Optimus Primal skin and the Autobot Signal Flare contrail equipped at the same time, the Autobot insignia normally used is replaced with the Maximal insignia instead.<ref>[1]</ref>
• Peter Cullen voiced Optimus Prime's radio messages during Chapter 4, Season 3.<ref>[2]</ref>
• The promotional images for the Fortnite Transformers Pack feature the word "Fortnite" written in the Autobot alphabet along the left edge.
• Unlike that of his pack-in partner Bumblebee, Megatron's skin is based directly on his evergreen design, with multiple details lifted near-1:1 from his character model.
• G.I. Joe operative Snake-Eyes was pulled into Reality Zero by Agent Jones on January 31, 2021, as one of the "hunters" intended to keep loopers from escaping. While stuck in the Loop, he engaged in countless, massive fights with Batman before the mutual respect that had grown between the two led Snake-Eyes to sacrifice himself to the storm so that Batman could escape the Loop.<ref>Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #3</ref>
• Transformers is officially canon to Fortnite and, by extension, the many, many franchises whose characters, locations, and objects have been variously deposited in its universe. One of those "franchises", by the way, is our own Earth, which has experienced multiple incursions from Reality Zero and had multiple real-life celebrities and internet personalities plucked from it to become loopers. Make of this information what you will.

References

<references />

External links

• [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Fortnite|{{#if:||Fortnite}}]] at Wikipedia
• Fortnite wiki
• Chapter 4 season 3 trailer