Fortnite teases Naruto Shippuden skins and emote collaboration

Believe it! At least, that's what Fortnite wants you to do. Epic Games has added yet another franchise to its multiverse with the tease of the Naruto Shippuden collection. The release date's set for November 16.

It's unclear exactly what this will entail, but this is not the first time that Fortnite has referenced Naruto. The 'Ninja Run' emote has been in Fortnite for quite some time, so it seems likely that we'll soon be seeing Naruto actually doing the iconic run all over the Fortnite map.

The collection has yet to be revealed but there are a number of interesting possibilities including Naruto's shadow clones as a celebration, using kunai as a pickaxe, and more.

Naruto has been on the rise in esports culture generally as well. The recent Naruto x Team Liquid and Akutsuki collections have proven to be wildly popular. Whether this collaboration opened Viz Media up to the potential of esports and video game culture crossovers is unknown, but seems pretty likely.

On Fortnite's part, Epic has been determined to crossover Fortnite with just about every big name in pop culture. From Back to the Future to League of Legends, there has been a reference or outright collaboration for many huge names. Naruto is just the latest in a long line of crossovers for the Battle Royale title, chasing the high bar for crossovers that was initially set by games like Super Smash Bros. Indeed, the idea of a "metaverse" has been something many companies have been chasing as of late. Epic just seems to be the first, and potentially the best, at the concept so far.

The Naruto Shippuden collaboration will be revealed on November 16 in the Fortnite item shop.