Fortnite Mistborn crossover is perfect for the game

Who saw the Fortnite Mistborn crossover happening? Kelsier from Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn fantasy epic makes a surprise appearance in Fortnite, and this opens the door for so many more varied crossovers in the future.

Fortnite these days is all about crossovers. Movies, comics, toys, creators, video games, sports, music: you name it. If it exists, it’ll probably be in Fortnite at some point. As far as I know, this is the first collaboration with a novel that I’ve seen in Fortnite.

Fortnite Mistborn crossover opens the door

This surprise collab has been a few months in the making. Mistborn author (and bonafide gamer) Brandon Sanderson and Fortnite director Donald Mustard go way back. In a

post on r/BrandonSanderson

, the author spoke freely of the crossover plans:

While I’ve not read the books, a friend of mine is quite the fan. So much so that this crossover is what brought him to play Fortnite, and not my months of pestering him to be my Duos partner. This got me thinking: is niche the way to go for Fortnite to grow?

Not that one of the biggest games in the world needs to grow, necessarily. Fortnite is an interesting cultural icon, as I know many play Fortnite simply because it’s popular and their friends at school play. It’s so ubiquitous, and the rampant crossovers that Epic Games have done in recent seasons establish Fortnite as a force here to stay. Expression by way of representing your favorite things is a big part of the Fortnite experience, too.

I’ve been an outspoken critic of Fortnite crossovers before. I prefer original, creative content, but there’s no denying that Epic doesn’t try to please both parties. For me, crossovers have to be optional and non-obtrusive. They can’t take anything away from the core game, which is the main issue I took with C2S4’s Marvel extravaganza.

My favorite Fortnite crossovers are the niche ones. Not Star Wars, Marvel or even sports, despite how well they turn out. The more specific they get, the better it is for fans of those properties to become establish an emotional connection to the game, and ultimately, stay for the long run. It’s great even for players who hop on occasionally, since most of us adult don’t have much time to game in our age.

I have to keep up(since this is my job as the Fortnite guy), but many of my peers can only get a few games on the weekend. When they do play, they want to feel good and proud of their experience.

I got into Fortnite in Chapter 2 Season2, and I fell in love with the unique lore that the Spy theme brought. One regret I had was not starting when Wick’s Bounty landed, so I missed out on a crossover skin for one of my favorite movies. As soon as John Wick returned, I had to jump the outfit for my locker. Admittedly, John Wick is a popular franchise in its own right, and was almost expected. The Mistborn crossover is unexpected, and for that reason, it’s delightful.

Delight is the thing that keeps players playing a game. It seems so obvious, but as former Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Amé once said:

Games are meant to be fun. Fortnite is fun. It’s even more fun when one of your favorite novels gets some representation in it. If it makes players happy, it makes me happy. The Mistborn Fortnite crossover may not drive millions of players into the game, but it gives a great opportunity for Epic to capture that emotional resonance for fans of Sanderson. It opens the door for more unique crossover experiences that I’m all for.