Fortnite made another surprising collaboration announcement that sparked a lot of conversations. They are not hesitating to bring altogether the characters of the legendary 2000’s cartoon, Danny Phantom, and Sam Manson, plus even Phantom Mode, to the game. The Fortnite account shared a hype video, “Ghosts beware – we’re going full Phantom Mode,” and without further ado, the skins are now available in the shop. Nevertheless, the community’s reaction is exactly what one would expect, somewhat hard.
Epic Games’ new characters were decided to be Danny Phantom and his goth friend, Sam. Buy them together as a set with back bling and flaunt with pickaxes themed around the series. The talk is that Fortnite’s crazy crossovers, which are taking characters from cartoons just as movies and comics, are now the talk of the town. For those who were the fans of the series, this is an ultimate perspective of dream come true – a half-ghost hero entering the Battle Royale! At first, it sounds pretty cool.
But then you take a look at the tweets in reply to the announcement and, oh dear, the vibe changes right away. It’s like the community got divided into two ghosts – those who celebrate and those who criticize.
On one side are the players who are really very passionate. You get replies like ‘No way! 👀’ from Danoidz and just general enthusiasm. They are reliving their childhood. This is a no-brainer for them, buy it right away. They cannot wait to drop on the island and yell ‘I’m going ghost!’ while building a ramp.
On the other hand, do you know which side I’m referring to? And that’s the side which is noisy. The main bulk of comments does not even concern Danny Phantom at all. These are the players who are simultaneously complaining about Fortnite. It is one of the best examples of how a gaming community takes a new announcement as a loudspeaker. They want the old features back, such as ‘Bring back the playground mode’ from Nightflare17. Others are asking for different collabs outright, with DJBluepool27 literally pleading, ‘I am begging you to do a collaboration with Ben 10 ultimate alien.’ LaneFMender bluntly stated, ‘wdgaf bring in Harry Potter.’ So the wishlist is quite a few lines long.
However, the real debate centers around the skins, of course. A good number of players complain that the character models resemble nothing but… wrong. Like, really wrong. The criticism is very harsh. ClintE___ said it plainly: ‘It looks so bad 😬 please rework it.’ Ag3Nt_N pointed out, ‘It’s cool but his face isn’t that soft n round, it’s slightly sharp and angular. Fix that.’ And then there is the comment that somewhat went viral in the thread. KOSMICCPEACH wrote, “Baby that’s Derek Fentanyl 😭 my god I can’t look at it.” Ouch. That’s a burn hotter than a Ghost Ray.
Some players even express their dissatisfaction in terms of action, or at least threats of it. jan006sir went full caps lock: ‘BOYCOTT FN AND BATTLE PASS…. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!’ And Kleptoz23 summed it up the way many seem to feel: ‘The bundle is too expensive for half-assed designs.’ So it’s not just about the look, but also about the value. If you are going to ask for V-bucks, then players will expect a high-quality product.
Moreover, there is a bug complaint from a superfan. User KillerWolf3443 posted a long thread not only complaining but also turning into detective work. He pointed out that the iconic ‘Going Ghost’ transformation music mutes halfway through in the game. He compared the in-game audio to the full theme from the show and was, in his words, ‘extremely disappointed.’ He tagged Fortnite and asked them to fix it, saying ‘Don’t ruin the most memorable/iconic part about this character.’ That’s some specific passionate feedback right there.
Along with this, there are the usual, uh, Fortnite Twitter staples. The complaints about the matchmaking that is supposedly broken, like augusta_ma18407 who even claims she’s going to sue. Others are inquiring about the presence of bots and hackers. One user even replied with just a bunch of underscores and squares, which is a whole mood in itself. It’s crazy, but it’s the kind of chaotic energy that always accompanies a major Fortnite release.
So what’s the verdict? Fortnite’s Danny Phantom collab is here and, without a doubt, it’s a conversation starter. To some, it is a perfect nostalgia trip. Others view it as a disappointing practice of a great idea that has become a lighting rod for the game’s broader frustrations. Epic Games has this uncanny power to make one part of its mammoth player base content while simultaneously making another part question every PlayStation and Xbox player’s experience.
