Recently celebrating its five-year anniversary, Fortnite continues to be one of the most prominent titles in the online video game landscape, regularly roping in high-profile content and collaborations like the currently ongoing Dragon Ball crossover. Despite this, many gamers on Fortnite's social media go out of their way to state that the battle royale is a "dead game". Fortnite has decided to poke fun at these people, releasing a "Dead Game" skin according to a new leak.
Popping up in the last few years, the term "dead game" is mostly used by gamers to arbitrarily state that a game is no longer popular, has declined, or is on its way out. However, gamers have been arguing what constitutes a dead game, as the most common targets are live service titles with player counts in the millions. The general consensus is that while certain titles that have stopped receiving updates and/or have a significantly dwindling player count could be considered, most use "dead game" if they've stopped playing or know they'll get a reaction.
Revealed by the prolific Fortnite leaker and dataminer HYPEX, the "Dead Game" skin directly addresses some of the free-to-play title's online critics. The outfit is a relatively simple one, featuring a normal human character with silver-grey hair outfitted with a checkerboard hat. The skin also sports black arm sleeves, along with a sleeveless shirt with the words "Dead Game" sharply written on the front, directly trolling Fortnite's trolls.
According to multiple leakers, the humorously self-aware skin is named Veronika, and will be available as part of a Starter Pack in Chapter 3 Season 4. Fortnite's Starter Pack bundles historically have cost around $3.99 and include a skin, a back bling, a pickaxe, and 600 V-Bucks, putting it on the cheaper end of the spectrum when it comes to the battle royale's original skins. Considering the current season is set to end in just a few weeks, players won't have to wait long for the cosmetic.
While the "Dead Game" skin is supposedly slated to arrive in the near future, so too is another crossover character. According to a separate leak, Starfire of DC Comics' Teen Titans is expected to be added to the game. Several sources have claimed the Tamaran princess will be the next comic book character added, joining teammates Rebirth Raven and Beast Boy, although there's no info on any accompanying accessories.
While some of Fortnite's fanbase may seem to be perpetually arguing on aspects of the game, like whether the current Battle Pass system is better than Fortnite Chapter 1's or if the game is "dead," it doesn't look like the game is slowing down anytime soon.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, Mobile, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.