A collaboration between Epic Games that is the creator of the popular video game Fortnite and also the world of football has opened another sphere of competition online. Head of Global Partnerships at Epic Games that is Nate Nanzer said, “Fortnite has been around for over three years now”.
He also added, “We’ve spent a lot of time listening to our players and having conversations with them about what do they want to see next. Overwhelmingly, the sport that we hear from our players that is most wanted to come to the game is global football, soccer”.
Because of that, a total of 23 clubs across five continents, including Manchester City, Juventus, and also AC Milan are entering into a partnership with Fortnite to bring the first-ever official football kit inspired skins to the game. Nate Nanzer stated, “It’s a truly global launch”.
He added, “We have clubs from the Premier League, from Serie A, from MLS, the J League in Japan, the league in Australia, all over the world. This is just the beginning of what we want to do in football. We’re so excited to get this into the game and can’t wait to see where it goes over time”.
Every outfit in the game can be swapped to any of the 23 football clubs we’ve teamed with from around the globe.
Clubs include:
- Manchester City FC
- Juventus
- AC Milan
- Inter Milan
- AS Roma
- Seattle Sounders FC
- Atlanta United
- Los Angeles FC
- Santos FC
- Wolves
- West Ham United FC
- Sevilla FC
- Sporting CP
- Borussia Mönchengladbach
- FC Schalke 04
- VFL Wolfsburg
- Rangers FC
- Celtic FC
- Cerezo Osaka
- Melbourne City FC
- Sydney FC
- Western Sydney Wanderers
- EC Bahia
As a game with 350 million registered users last year, Fortnite represents a huge outreach potential for sports clubs and only underlines the possibilities of burgeoning digital markets in a time when people are spending an increased amount of time online.
Not just that, Epic Games also partnered with legendary Brazilian footballer, Pelé, to bring his iconic celebration into the game. Pele’s Air Punch Emote will be available in the Item Shop on January 23.
While on January 20, Fortnite’s football fun gets competitive with the Pelé Cup. Players participating in the Cup will have a chance to win the Air Punch Emote and Kickoff Set for free. Interestingly, top scorers will also have the opportunity to win a customized signed shirt. Read the Pelé Cup rules here.
Fortnite has previously partnered with the NFL, Marvel and Warner Bros, utilizing a promotional design that is mutually beneficial to both sides.
Sources: Epic Games.