Once again, Epic Games has surpassed itself with a bold new collaboration, this time presenting a new character skin for Fortnite that is based on Homer Simpson. A very credible source suggested the character’s skin HYPEX, unveiling this new cartoon father series, and the audience’s reaction—from the very beginning—has been,… shall we say, mixed. I mean seriously, mixed. Some gamers can’t wait for the skin to drop, others are simply confused, and a lot of them have doubts about the potential price.
So now it comes the burning question, what is this Homer skin really about? The price leak seems to indicate that the character is going to be dressed up differently from what was the case with the Battle Pass. This does seem to be a unique item shop skin and, boom, the talk about V-Bucks and worth has started already. The significant question every player is wondering about is why this has turned out as such a new skin rather than just a different style for the Battle Pass version. This is where the crux of the matter lies—in fact, players like ‘twodoyle’ have opined “The fact it’s not a style 💀” and ‘barrera_ga98673’ chimed in “should have been an edit style at that point.” It’s a good point you know? If you have already gone through the Battle Pass for Homer, why should you have to pay again just for a slight difference in appearance?
Now talking about the price, it is the most interesting aspect of this whole skin situation. One gamer ‘_ZackLarsen’ did not hold back his criticism and inquired “Who the hell is going to buy this? It’s a money waste; the battle pass is cheaper, and you get more value.” And honestly, he is right. The battle pass costs about 950 V-Bucks, right? And you get lots of skins, including Homer, plus other cosmetics. An item shop character like the new Homer could easily cost you 1,500 V-Bucks or more. This is a pretty steep price just for one character when some people are trying to dismiss the original show, as ‘SNX_GM’ so beautifully put it, as a “Mid ass show” that has somehow been granted “10+ skins.” Ouch!
On the other hand, it is not only negative vibes. It’s Fortnite—the venue for crazy crossovers, and a section of players have their hands up in the air. Comments like “We will be buying” from ‘ViceXXII’ and “I’m buying this, by the way” from ‘EthanHath_’ show that a market is definitely there. It’s Homer Simpson, no doubt. He is a classic. “unstoppable multiverse era” as ‘walmart_en’ was joking about it. It kind of makes sense for him to have different outfits, right? After all, he has been in space, he has been a boxer, Mr. Plow. The man can do anything.
The replies kept coming and even gave rise to new discussions, as is always the case with internet debates. Someone pulled the Star Wars season, with ‘FatassEmbiid’ lamenting “all this simpsons stuff but for the star wars season we got 3 pois and like 8 skins😭”. It is a valid comparison that points out some crossovers as being more authentic than others. There even broke out a weird little dispute regarding the developers of the game, where ‘Lulubunnii__’ and ‘HyperionPrince’ were arguing over whether the female staff on the team have input on the skins released. It got a little heated, with HyperionPrince eventually stating “Yeah you’re just being disingenuous for the sake of your narrative.” So, yes, the Homer reveal has truly opened up a can of worms.
And let’s not forget about the sheer, unadulterated memes. One user, ‘toid_27’, posed a very important question: “homers dihh wth where’s”. Definitely, a crucial query for the proper character representation. Another one, ‘Gojira_No_8’, just put up a screenshot of Peter Griffin inquiring “When are they going to put him in?” which implies that the call for more cartoon dads in Fortnite is indeed a strong and influential force.
So what is the final verdict on this new Homer Simpson skin for Fortnite? It is a multiple-choice question. Epic Games has undoubtedly gone through the roof with this Disney/Fox partnership, giving The Simpsons a lot of love through multiple skins and map locations. For collectors and die-hard Simpsons fans, this is probably an immediate buy. The more budget-conscious player who has already gotten the Battle Pass, though, sees it as an unwarranted cash grab. It’s the eternal Fortnite dilemma: aesthetic versus saving. At the end of the day, it will depend on how much you really, really love Homer Simpson and his countless adventures, especially now that the game is also available on PlayStation and Xbox.
