A credible source has suggested that lightsabers could be returning to Fortnite in time for Star Wars Day on May 4. Epic’s multiplayer battle royale smash hit has crossover with various other franchises over the years, from Marvel Comics and The Walking Dead to God Of War and Uncharted. Some of these collaborations have resulted in guest character skins, while others have allowed players to use special Fortnite equipment like Spider-Man’s web-shooters to travel around The Island.
One of the many franchises to cross paths with Fortnite is Star Wars, as Epic Games and Lucasfilm first collaborated in the build-up to 2019's Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker. Several of the film’s main characters were added to Fortnite as playable skins, a sneak preview was shown off to players who logged in at a certain time for a virtual viewing, and there was even an ominous message from Emperor Palpatine heralding his return from the dead. The Fortnite/Star Wars crossovers would continue in the following years, with an X-Wing Glider being offered to players who preordered Star Wars: Squadrons, an Easter Egg modeled after Han Solo’s brief time as a Carbonite-encased prisoner of Jabba The Hutt appearing in Fortnite Season 5, and even Boba Fett being introduced as a Fortnite character skin. Rumors have started to hint that Darth Vader could appear in Fortnite at some point, but fans might be seeing the return of a time-honored staple of the Star Wars galaxy before then.
Fortnite news account FortniteBR recently tweeted that lightsabers may return to the game during this year’s Star Wars Day celebration on May 4 (via Dexerto). A Fortnite data miner by the Twitter handle of LunakisLeaks supported this claim and stated that all four of the previously available lightsaber variants - Luke Skywalker’s green-bladed sword from Return Of The Jedi, Rey’s blue Skywalker family lightsaber from the Sequel Trilogy, Kylo Ren’s red cross-guarded saber, and Mace Windu’s purple blade - will return as equipable items in Fortnite. Furthermore, LunakisLeaks posted a gameplay clip of Fortnite’s lightsabers in action, which will allow players to block, roll, and slash at enemies.
Lightsabers were first brought into Fortnite during the aforementioned The Rise Of Skywalker promotion, where they proved to be a fairly popular weapon if overpowered weapon among Fortnite players. Epic would bring the lightsabers back during 2020’s Star Wars Day celebration, though the Jedi’s greatest weapon was nowhere to be found in 2021. In the meantime, Star Wars Day has always been a time where fans have come together to celebrate the signature sci-fi mega-franchise with special events, and Lucasfilm has often used the day to make exciting announcements about the future of Star Wars.
This year's Star Wars Day could be a particularly exciting one, considering that the long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series is finally set to air on Disney Plus later this year and multiple AAA Star Wars video games are currently in the works. With all this in mind, now might be as good a time as any for Star Wars’ iconic lightsaber to return to Fortnite once again.
Source: FortniteBR/Twitter, LunakisLeaks/Twitter (via Dextro.com)