The collaboration between “Fortnite” and Disney means that some characters cannot use weapons

It's been a while since Epic Games and Disney announced a “persistent universe” that would serve as a hub for Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars content within the Fortnite ecosystem. Now we have a few more details about it, including that the game is finally hitting a wall: no Mickey Mouse with a gun.

So far, as of last week, all Disney crossovers, be it Star Wars, Marvel or even The Incredibles, have allowed characters to wield weapons, making them playable in Fortnite's battle modes. But with this upcoming collaboration we will reach a level of skins where this is not allowed.

Here, Epic EVP Saxs Persson speaks to The Verge on the topic:

“Not every outfit will do everything,” Persson said. “A (Lego) minifigure doesn’t hold a weapon. Brands should be able to enforce brand guidelines to the extent that they are comfortable with that brand being associated with specific reviews. Some IPs are not youth IPs or adult IPs. They are e-for-all IPs.”

This leads into a somewhat confusing gray area where we now have Mr. and Mrs. Incredible from a PG Disney movie running around with automatic weapons. We will reportedly also see Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook in an upcoming villain series. These original animated films are rated G, but there have since been PG live-action versions of them.

It feels like the boundaries are drawn on a case by case basis. The only example given is that Lego minifigures don't have weapons. But again: where is the limit? Moana is rated PG. So can we see her and Maui running around with guns to promote the sequel? The same goes for Frozen, a PG movie in which Elsa and Anna could mix up duos. As you can see, there can be a split even within a given rating.

Some of this may also be logistical. Fortnite skins have a fairly specific profile that sometimes needs to be bent to suit the characters within them (e.g. Peter Griffin). Aside from being bad for the brand, you might not see Mickey in Battle Royale just because he's pretty sure. I try to imagine being angry or sad, walking around from the inside out while people try to target you when they're up to your waist.

But the point here is that at some point in this “persistent universe” there will be characters created solely for social purposes or for other non-combat-oriented games. It makes sense, I just think it can be funny given what we've seen so far where these lines are drawn.

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