Fortnite is known for its collaborations with a wide variety of companies and properties, but its most recent pairing with oil giant Shell has heads in the community spinning.
The “Ultimate Road Trips” collaboration powered Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline comes just after the Jujutsu Kaisen and Fortnite venture in August. While anime might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s safe to say a collab with a company that allegedly ignored climate change statistics and significantly contributed to rising CO2 levels for decades is undoubtedly worse.
Fortnite and Shell’s partnership also comes just two weeks after Epic Games laid off 16 percent of their staff, and raised the price of its store-based microtransactions. This led people to roast Epic Games today on social media.
Players mocked the partnership and shared that they were awaiting the next Marlboro cigarette and Fortnite collaboration, which they suspect would be arriving soon, while others rallied behind the “StopShell” hashtag.
Shell’s latest campaign seemingly targets a younger demographic via social media platforms like TikTok, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube. As it turns out, various Twitch channels were reportedly sponsored by Shell to promote its products, according to reports by Ilana Berger earlier this week.
Twitch streamers brookeab, Astrobounder, Punisher, NateHill, Chica, and Grady_Rains were among the list found to have been sponsored by Shell.
The collaboration sees Fortnite players driving through six different areas with a Shell gas station in the middle of these locations as its centrepiece. Players use a car of their choice to traverse the various courses on the map.
This is an off-brand collaboration for Epic Games. Typically, the developers lean toward other video game characters, superheroes, and even sportspersons.
Dot Esports has contacted Epic Games for comment and will update this piece with any changes.
