Epic has confirmed a big new partnership for its free-to-play mega-hit, Fortnite, partnering with the popular Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The newly created stand-alone island experience will launch on December 9th at 3 PM ET. It continues Epic’s aggressive strategy of integrating popular franchises into its platform, creating for players exclusive modes of engagement with the properties outside of Battle Royale.
This island directly published by Disney promises a deep dive into the world of demigods and Greek mythology. Players will enroll themselves in the iconic Camp Half-Blood, which serves as one of the most important settings in the source material. The key gameplay element concerns players discovering a personal godly parent, thus acquiring diverse divine powers modeled after the Olympian deities. The ultimate goal for such demigods is to string together powerful mythical threats such as Scylla and Charybdis in the famous Sea of Monsters.
This timely release is aligned with the introduction of the second season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which will be on December 10 on Disney+. For fans who have been with the franchise for a long time, it is the reconnection between the book series of Rick Riordan with the interactive world via Fortnite island. This marks the first official content for the franchise in video games for fifteen years; the last title released in this regard was a movie tie-in title for the Nintendo DS in 2010. Since this experience is a totally stand-alone and part of a free-to-play title, access is opened for even very dedicated followers of the franchise who have never indulged in Fortnite.
The addition of the Percy Jackson island further supports the ongoing evolution of Fortnite from being a mere competitive title to a fully-fledged digital destination for integration of intellectual property. With this change of direction for the platform toward unique, narrative-driven experiences such as the Camp Half-Blood simulation, Epic Games have shown their commitment toward utilizing major cultural touchstones beyond the launch of mere cosmetic skins attached to the game. As Chapter 7 of Fortnite continues to introduce groundbreaking crossover events, the Percy Jackson collaboration cements the legitimacy of the game as a premier entertainment hub of multifaceted nature accessible to the modern gaming audience.
