Five Nights at Freddy's Crashes Into Fortnite for Fortnitemares

Fortnite's annual Halloween celebration has landed its first big guest. Epic Games has confirmed that Five Nights at Freddy's is joining the battle royale for this year's Fortnitemares event.

The confirmation pairs one of gaming's most recognizable horror franchises with one of its most popular live-service platforms. Fortnitemares has become a yearly fixture for Epic, typically bringing spooky limited-time content, themed cosmetics and seasonal tweaks to the island. Adding the animatronic-filled world of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza fits the tone well.

Epic has not yet detailed what the collaboration will include. Past Fortnite crossovers have usually meant a mix of playable skins, back bling, emotes and other cosmetics, and sometimes dedicated in-game activities or modes. Whether Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy or newer faces from the series get the spotlight remains to be seen, and fans will be watching for any hint of a themed map location or creator-made experience.

For the FNAF brand, the move is another sign of how far the series has travelled since its indie beginnings. What started as a jump-scare survival game has grown into a multimedia franchise with numerous sequels, spin-offs, merchandise and a feature film. A Fortnite appearance puts it in front of a huge audience during the very season when horror is most in demand.

For Fortnite players, it is one more entry in the game's long list of pop culture partnerships, and a timely one. With Halloween approaching, expect Epic to share more specifics, including a release date and the full item lineup, in the coming days.