We’re spending the week airing all our grievances with gaming and computing in 2025. Hit up the Gripes Week hub for more of what’s grinding our gears.
Different franchises colliding in videogames has been a thing since some guy at Banpresto realised they could make Godzilla and a Gundam kick a football around an 8-bit pitch in 1992’s Battle Soccer.
Sticking a familiar face in a sea of original characters is a solid marketing strategy, and something that I’ve been especially privy to as a lifelong fighting game player: Yoda in Soulcalibur, Negan in Tekken, a freakin’ Halo Spartan in Dead or Alive. I am deep in the trenches of Kingdom Hearts’ Disney fever dream.
But it was a novelty, a special occasion. Then Fortnite happened. It started simple enough: a Marshmello here, a Guardians of the Galaxy there. The game is now home to countless different TV shows, videogames, and musicians under one roof. It is perhaps the only place you can gun down Ariana Grande as Vegeta while getting third partied by Master Chief.
A Reddit post from two years ago noted over 400 collaboration skins in the game, and there’s been a whole lot more since then. Hell, this year alone has already seen over 70 new collabs from King of the Hill to Squid Game.
Like I said, this kinda thing works, and there’s a reason Fortnite has leaned into it so heavily—I mean, my entire reason for getting into the battle royale was because they added Hatsune Miku—but it’s starting to spread like a deadly multiverse virus. Beavis and Butthead? Stick ’em in Call of Duty. Screw it, put Nicki Minaj in there while you’re at it. Why not Tomb Raider in World of Tanks? Slipknot will fit into Smite pretty well, I reckon.
Despite the tactic very much working on me this year, 2025 is also when I’ve started to truly tire of the Fortnitification of everything. I think it finally dawned on me during Summer Game Fest in June when, as I watched the trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, I was once again flashbanged by Hatsune Miku. The magic had worn off. A virtual Japanese idol was not going to reel me in a second time, you heathens. Don’t even get me started on goddamn Minecraft Steve.
It’s a crossover
After all, one of the most exciting parts about any videogame is getting to meet a new cast of characters and learn all about them. I am an absolute sucker for silly bits of lore and recurring original characters even when they don’t have entire stories built around them.
Even my favourite PC rhythm game DJMAX has really started to lean into telling narratives through multiple music videos—like virgin Power Rangers and their relationship-sabotaging ways, or a girl’s quest for resurrection (a cheeky nod at reviving the franchise) leading to splitting the original mascot into two brand-new ones.
That stuff all kinda gets lost when a character’s reason for existing in a videogame is a licensing fee and some clever marketing. Like, why is Joker driving around in a kart in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds? How did Dante end up in the world of Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne? Just because some guy at Atlus thought he was cool? Come on, man.
If you’re gonna Fortnite the shit outta your game, I at least want a reason. One that, you know, doesn’t totally fuck with the original game’s canon timeline. Even just a “Whoops I somehow ended up in a strange land, how did that happen!” will suffice. Please. I beg of you.
Just, you know, don’t do what Fortnite did with its Star Wars Palpatine event back in 2019—where The Rise of Skywalker actually ended up vaguely referencing the battle royale with a broadcast that ended up suggesting a connection between the two and thus creating confusion for those not well versed in the ways of Risky Reels. That’s a little too far for my liking.
My problem is it’s starting to feel like a lazy way to bulk out a character roster or a skin shop and an all-too easy way to rake in some money. There’s only so many times I can see Leon Kennedy or Geralt outside of their retirement homes before I lose my goddamn mind.
I get it, the industry is in a shaky spot right now and safe bets like these draw in the money, but I don’t need every single videogame to be a crossover episode. If there’s a strong cast of characters and strong storytelling to take me on a journey alongside them, I don’t need an obligatory Superman or Kratos as a bargaining chip to make me play.