The unforeseen repercussions of adding Naruto to Fortnite

Naruto is officially coming to Fortnite, and while most would assume animanga fans are happy about the genre’s exposure, not everyone feels that way.

The Naruto fandom seems split down the middle, while the Fortnite fandom seemingly is disappointed with this choice. While there are positives to the upcoming collab, we can also predict potentially unforeseen repercussions of adding Naruto to Fortnite.

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Naruto in Fortnite: The unforeseen repercussions

The Good…

A fan-made picture showcasing Naruto's anime design over a section of the Fortnite map (Image via Twitter)

The obvious and most immediate impact of Naruto being added to Fortnite is the exposure the anime genre will receive. While older Fortnite players surely at least know of Naruto, many younger players will likely have this as their first exposure to Naruto. Older players likely remember it from Toonami on Cartoon Network growing up, whereas younger players don’t have that childhood experience.

This is unconfirmed as of now, but images from a Japanese publication make it seem as though all of Team 7 is coming to Fortnite. If true, this will be a great way to expose younger players to not just Naruto but the entire main cast. Hopefully, this piques their interest and leads to more Naruto and anime fans.

Finally, it’s plain old great to see Naruto get more worldwide recognition. Naruto truly transcends anime culture and is a pop culture icon, as evident by this brand new Fortnite collaboration. Masashi Kishimoto truly created a universal story, pervasive not just throughout animanga culture but worldwide pop culture as well.

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The Bad…

However, it’s not all great news for the Fortnite collaboration. The major Achilles heel to this collaboration is that Naruto may start to be viewed as “that character from Fortnite” instead of Naruto from Naruto. While somewhat of a meme for older players, younger players genuinely referred to Travis Scott as the “guy from Fortnite,” so the precedent is set.

Assuming that bodes true for Naruto himself, adding in the rest of Team 7 could compound this problem and make it worse. It then goes from Naruto being “that character from Fortnite” to Naruto the series being viewed as a spinoff of Fortnite.

While some simple Googling will make it clear this isn’t the case, younger Fortnite players may not care enough to do so. In turn, this further propagates Naruto losing his Naruto identity and becoming associated with Fortnite.

While one could argue that any press is good press, it’s clear that press of the aforementioned kind will only hurt the Naruto franchise. Collaboration is great, and has led to many truly great moments in the animanga industry and beyond. That being said, there’s a lot of room for error or loss in a collaboration done wrong, whether by execution or by brand choice.

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And the Ugly...

Personally, Naruto in Fortnite seems like a bad idea. While the potential for new fans is immense, Fortnite easily has a larger fanbase in the collaboration. As a result, the potential for the Naruto franchise to lose face in this collaboration is very real and, in my opinion, likely.

Children and younger anime fans also tend to not particularly think through their word choice or actions, especially online. Certain sects of the My Hero Academia fan base, which will not be discussed here, demonstrate this. The young age of Fortnite’s majority player base is my biggest concern with this collaboration, and I feel the potential for disaster here is fairly high.

As someone who played Fortnite during what most fans call its peak, this collaboration is mistimed, given the game's current fanbase. Collaborations take a lot of time behind the scenes to line up, and I respect and appreciate that fact. It makes a good collaboration great and a bad one awful. That being said, the older Fortnite player base would have appreciated this so much more than their contemporary counterparts.

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Final thoughts

Obviously, opinions don’t dictate whether or not Naruto coming to Fortnite is a good or bad idea. As far as Epic is likely concerned, collaboration is a good idea if they make great money off skin purchases.

All that considered, there’s still an argument to be made for public relations repercussions and problems of that nature being considered. Neither Fortnite nor Naruto fanbases should blindly accept and purchase this collaboration. I implore fans of both franchises to consider the sign of support that their buying of the skins will send, and adjust their spending according to their own opinions.

Note: The article solely reflects the views of the writer.