In a move that would no doubt make Admiral Ackbar exclaim “our consoles can’t repel corporate synergy of that magnitude,” Fortnite developer Epic Games revealed that it would be showing off live footage of the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker inside the game.
The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams revealed this tonight at The Game Awards, and it’s one of the only — if not the first — time a major Hollywood blockbuster has shown off footage inside a game ahead of its theatrical release. The clip’s premiere is 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, December 14, at Risky Reels (a drive-in theater, so it’s already got a handy screen). Players who attend will receive a free TIE Whisper glider.
Fortnite is one of the most popular games around, with millions of downloads on PC, consoles, and mobile. The recent launch of Chapter 2 boosted viewer hours by 31% on Twitch. And Epic is just coming off another Star Wars promotion for Jedi: Fallen Order, Respawn’s action game about a Jedi Padawan who survived Emperor Palpatine’s purge.
Epic will also have new outfits, gliders, pickaxes, and emotes in the item shop to go along with this event.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20.