2018 saw a huge leap forwards in the way in which gaming is engaged with for both hardcore fans and more casual gamers. One of the biggest trends was the battle royale style of gaming that has been personified by Fortnite. The sandbox style multiplayer battle has every element to keep fans interested, with the ability to progress as a player, to customize characters and how you interact with the game, and an addictive form of gameplay that focuses on repeat play. But Fortnite Season 4 featured something that helped solidify the format as one of gaming“s biggest trends ever ”“ the launch of the superhero theme.
https://twitter.com/VG247/status/990609400548081664
Fortnite Season 4“s Superhero Theme
Season 4 introduced the theme of superheroes and had fans trying to connect the falling meteors at the start of the season with both the heroes and villains that feature. Eventually, some intrepid Twitter users realized that the superheroes and villains were, in fact, part of a larger story that connected to the movie sets that featured prominently, such as Moisty Mire. The fact that superheroes were shoehorned into the Fortnite narrative shows that not only is Fortnite – and the battle royale style of gaming – in control of current gaming trends, but that it sees superheroes as another huge trend and wants to focus on them. This also works the other way ”“ the superhero fandom understand that Fortnite is important to the gaming narrative at the moment and will do better to be linked with it.
Fortnite Season 4 and Infinity War
Infinity War was released in April 2018, around the time that Fortnite Season 4 was launched. This shows a huge movement in the way of how gaming is engaged with. The team at Fornite likely planned the season to coincide with the release of one of the most anticipated films of the year, and to attract those feeling the buzz of the superhero hype. By making such a move as to market both the game and the film at the same time, it shows that pop culture in such a digital age of technology cannot be indulged in independently, but is best to be interacted with in the wider zeitgeist of other elements of pop culture. Both the film and the game were able to benefit from the buzz of the superhero in the air around the same time, and both marketing campaigns helped fuel the other to keep fans happy.
https://twitter.com/chadwickboseman/status/1025435089805684736
Superheroes blasted into our fan psyche back in the 1960’s and have remained there ever since. The last decade has seen a huge move towards more immersive superheroes, especially with the crossovers in both the Marvel and DC franchises and the fact that Black Panther and Wonder Woman both ushered in a new dawn of film-making, let alone superhero action movie film-making. Being featured as a key theme in one of the most popular games of the year shows that superheroes are continuing their reign as one of the most influential and popular themes in pop culture.
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