Highlights
- Fortnite's crossovers have become an integral part of the game, often included in Battle Pass, but lack the same level of effort and integration as Dead by Daylight's crossovers.
- While Fortnite's collaborations offer free events and exclusive rewards, they often only provide skins and have no impact on gameplay, making them lose their meaning with frequent releases.
- Dead by Daylight's crossovers greatly impact the game and its meta, with new killers, survivors, maps, and integrated references that enhance gameplay and provide new value retroactively to the entire game.
For the last five years or so, Fortnite has become a hub for all things pop culture. A family-friendly online multiplayer game, Fortnite's crossover potential was evident pretty early on in the game's life, and Marvel was the first to really see that potential and seize it, bringing the game's first high-profile crossover in its Avengers: Infinity War limited-time event. Since then, the floodgates have been well and truly opened, with Fortnite now receiving constant crossovers from across the entertainment industry, from movie franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, and DC, to TV shows like Walking Dead and Futurama, including anime like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia.
Fortnite's crossovers are fast and frequent now, and over the last year or so, they've become an integral part of the experience, often being included in Fortnite's seasonal Battle Pass and having their own expansive limited-time modes. But while Fortnite's crossovers are usually pretty great, they're not always perfect, and many of them lack the same level of effort and integration that Dead by Daylight puts in its own crossovers.
Fortnite's Crossovers Just Aren't as Impactful as Dead By Daylight's
Fortnite's crossovers, especially in the last year or two, have been pretty good across the board, and occasionally really excellent. At their worst, Fortnite's recent collaborations have brought a handful of paid cosmetics and skins to the game, all based on beloved franchises that have a sizeable following. And at their best, Fortnite's crossovers have gone above and beyond, including separate mini Battle Passes with exclusive rewards, along with a ton of themed quests, and sets of time-limited Mythic weapons pulled directly from the source material.
It's clear that a lot of effort goes into the vast majority of Fortnite collaborations, and the fact that most crossover events can be experienced completely for free always makes them events worth checking out, especially for fans of the chosen franchise. That all being said, though, a good portion of Fortnite's crossovers are just a set of skins at the end of the day, and they have no bearing on the game itself. Paired with how frequently Fortnite is churning out its collaborations now, the game's crossovers are starting to lose their meaning a little, with many blurring into one.
Dead by Daylight doesn't have the same problem. Released back in 2016, Dead by Daylight received its first crossover just a few months into the game's life, with Halloween's Michael Myers being added as a Killer. Since then, Dead by Daylight has crossed over with multiple horror franchises, from iconic movies like Saw and The Ring to fellow horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. But what sets Dead by Daylight's crossovers apart from Fortnite is their integration within the game itself.
Each Dead by Daylight crossover greatly impacts the game and its meta. Each new crossover usually brings with it a new Killer, a new Survivor, and a new map, all themed to the given franchise. It's clear with every one of Dead by Daylight's crossovers just how passionate the devs are about working with the license, and that passion translates to a plethora of references and fan service, most of which are integrated into the gameplay itself with the Killer's special ability, and each character's perks. As well as providing new ways to play through these characters and maps, Dead by Daylight's crossovers also provide more value retroactively to the rest of the game, with any new perks being transferrable across the rest of the game's characters. This, along with the infrequency of each crossover, helps to make each Dead by Daylight collaboration feel like a big event, which isn't always the case with Fortnite's own crossovers.
Fortnite is available now for Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
