Leaker ShiinaBR reports that less than two days away from the update’s release, Fortnite players are expecting some treat in the Halloween spirit with K-Pop Demon Hunters. The seasonal event promises to mix the eerie Halloween vibes with something totally uncharacteristic-the strangest Fortnite collaboration ever.
And what then is Fortnitemares? The annual Halloween-themed event for Fortnite, complete with themed cosmetics, ltms, and map changes that instantiate the dark atmosphere, usually. However, this collaboration seems to be going on an entirely different road, bringing in the K-Pop Demon Hunters. The community has been, in common with every combination ever, extremely divided, with some loving the idea and others-well, not so much.
Reaction from the community has been quite all over the map; Grkyn had to just say plainly, “I hate hearing about kpop demon shits,” maybe a case of honest feedback. Then there’s lalisatto2 stating, “This is the most exciting fortnite collab in a while.” So… there are two totally polarizing voices.
Some speculate about what the K-Pop Demon Hunters entail. According to Spidermonument, “They’re the main collab for Fortnitemares.” The idea behind this is to suggest that it might be more of a headlining attraction than just a side gig. JavaKnight12 gives insight on the bundles with “skins, gliders, wraps,” literally all the cosmetic sets you get with a typical Fantasy collaboration.
What was I saying, though? Ah, yes, about the timing. With just 37 hours till the update drop, people are scrambling to figure out what else might be coming. Some want more collaborations, with UnrealKaboom begging “him and stranger things wave 3 to be announced,” while dany_queen8 wants “og season 6 pass news enough with kpop demon hunters.”
Is excitement really building for them, though? “I’M SO EXCITED 😭” exclaimed Uchiha_Okan with celebratory GIFs, while TheWarriorX27 shouted, “THEY WERE FASSTTT, FASSTTT WITH IT TOOO! YAAAAASSSSS😍😍😍.” Quite a paradoxical amount of hype.
Yet there’s confusion regarding what “main” actually means in the Fortnitemares context. “Not realy main more like BIGGEST COLLAB because of the ltm but from what we currently know besides ltm and skins thats it,” explains JavaKnight12. So it’s a limited-time mode plus cosmetic items, which well just falls in line with how Fortnite normally operates for big collaborations.
That being said, wallets are targets yet again. “My wallet is ready to be drained” ambled said LegoEvan10, also acknowledging that these collabs tend to come with a price premium. Given that some earlier Fortnite collabs bundled exclusive skins at prices reaching 2,000 V-Bucks without any extras attached, players should definitely prepare to shell out for this one if they want the full K-Pop Demon Hunter experience.
What’s funny is about how massively split this collaboration gets the community. You’ve got people like dropobadoobee asking, “who asked for kpop demon hunters,” with Memedemonlord answering back, “Me and most everyone who plays as the lobbies will prove so.” So it’s your classic Fortnite community split where some folks just adore those shock-value crossovers and others want the game to hold true to its roots.
Timing-wise, this update couldn’t have come at a better time. Fortnitemares usually runs in the whole month of October, giving enough fun to Halloween-themed content before they get shoved into the background to make way for Christmas content. And with less than 37 hours left to go, the update release will essentially coincide with the start of October, really hitting off the spooky season.
There’s talk about more content being dropped beside just K-Pop Demon Hunters. User Vitulinek2017 asked, “Do you think on 2nd October We will get Fortnitemares key art?” implying more reveals post-initial update. And spiceeed mused, “Is Doja next update?” citing the recent Doja Cat rumors.
This is very reminiscent of the times that Fortnite began with these huge crossovers. Folks thought the Marvel season was crazy; next thing you know, they’ve done Star Wars, then NFL, and now we’re on K-Pop demon Hunters. It’s pretty crazy how this game keeps surprising everyone with totally unexpected collaborations, yet somehow have them all turn out well.
Let’s just say the K-Pop Demon Hunters aesthetic in-game? It’s still mainly speculation. User butter20535 teased, “When you know Shiina is teasing the Black costumes Huntrix styles but you can’t prove it yet,” implying there might be multiple style options or maybe more characters than have been revealed.
Limited-time mode; an interesting pick. Fortnite’s Halloween modes have thrown in everything from zombie survival mechanics to boss battles. The demon hunter theme may yet actually unleash some form of monster-slaying mode that somehow grosses together the K-Pop vibe into this new weirdness we’ve never before witnessed. Maybe…rhythm-based combat? That’d be outright novel for Fortnite.
Epic keeps pushing boundaries when it comes to collaborations. Disagree all you want with K-Pop Demon Hunters or hail it as the best thing to happen to Fortnite since mechs, but you have to admit they’re keeping things interesting. And anytime soon, barely 37 hours, we will witness it all going operational.
With the server downtime and the official patch notes’ release, one can almost be certain that the update will also bring forth that content everyone has been speculating about. Judging from the buzz and controversy, I guess most of us will be glued to the servers once they go live so we could at least witness K-Pop Demon Hunters pop up.
If the ability of Fortnite to keep reinventing itself through these collaborations isn’t impressive, then what is? Horror movie crossovers, musical artists, anime characters, you name it. They’ve managed to keep the game fresh even years after launch. K-Pop Demon Hunters sounds like a strange choice on paper and judging from Epic’s history; it’ll probably end up being one of those huge wins nobody expected to actually pull off.
The gaming community on PlayStation and Xbox platforms continues to debate these collaborations.
