Fortnite’s Star Wars May 4 2024 Event Doesn’t Hold a Candle to Last Year’s

Highlights

Fortnite has collaborated with many pop-culture brands, with some of the biggest crossovers becoming a core part of the game’s identity.
The Star Wars collaborations in Fortnite have been a big hit, with last year’s event offering a better battle pass than this year’s.
This year’s Star Wars event in Fortnite is expansive and impressive, but the battle pass may disappoint players due to its higher cost and LEGO focus.

Over the last seven years, Fortnite has continued to work with some of the biggest brands in the entertainment industry, to the point where it’s now considered a sort of pop-culture hub. Dropping into an average match of Fortnite will see players encounter Dragonball‘s Goku, Attack on Titan‘s Eren, Marvel’s Iron Man, DC’s Batman, and even musical artists like Billie Eilish, all duking it out on an ever-changing battlefield. It’s still a little surreal to see, but these vastly different crossovers have become a core part of Fortnite‘s identity over the last few years.

But there’s one pop-culture franchise that Fortnite continues to put front and center every year, and that’s Star Wars. For a few years now, Fortnite has gone all out for Star Wars‘ May 4 celebrations, and this year may be the biggest collaboration between the two yet. But while this year’s Fortnite x Star Wars May 4 celebration might be its most extensive, there’s still one big area in which it pales in comparison to its predecessor.

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Fortnite’s 2024 Star Wars Event Is a Double-Edged Sword

Last Year’s Fortnite Star Wars Event Had a Much Better Battle Pass

Mini battle passes that tie in with limited-time crossover events have become a staple of Fortnite, but last year’s May 4 Star Wars collaboration was one of the first to release, coming soon after the Dragonball-themed mini battle pass. 2023’s Fortnite x Star Wars May 4 event gave players a small battle pass featuring 11 exclusive Star Wars-themed rewards. This completely free battle pass gave players a few simple sprays, loading screens, and battle pass tier skips, but its main draw was a Phase 2 Clone Trooper skin, all of which could be redeemed by completing specific Star Wars-related Battle Royale quests.

For 1000 V-Bucks, players could upgrade the Star Wars mini battle pass to a premium version, which would give them immediate access to the Coruscant Guard Clone Trooper skin, along with an additional 11 Star Wars-themed rewards ranging from Darth Maul-themed sprays and weapon wraps to two more clone trooper skins and the ultimate reward of a Darth Maul skin. Technically speaking, for 1000 V-Bucks, players were getting a total of five Star Wars skins, along with a plethora of other goodies.

This year, the Star Wars mini battle pass returns to Fortnite, but it’s taken a much different approach. Costing 1400 V-Bucks, this year’s Fortnite x Star Wars May 4 battle pass gives players immediate access to a Chewbacca skin and his LEGO Fortnite variant, along with 11 Star Wars-themed rewards. But unlike 2023’s Star Wars battle pass, these 11 rewards are all LEGO Fortnite-related items, with the premium track focusing on Tatooine-inspired LEGO Fortnite structures.

While it’s interesting to see Fortnite experiment with a LEGO-focused battle pass, this doesn’t feel like the best place or time to do so, with the pass costing quite a bit more than last year’s, and it only netting the player one Star Wars skin. Even those happy with the LEGO focus of the battle pass are likely to be disappointed, as the rewards don’t even grant structures based on other Star Wars locations.

This Year’s Fortnite Star Wars Event Is Technically More Expansive

What makes this Fortnite Star Wars May 4 battle pass even more disappointing is that the rest of this year’s event is technically much more expansive and impressive than any Star Wars x Fortnite event that’s come before it, stretching across all of the game’s modes. Fortnite‘s Battle Royale mode has brought Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers back, along with adding Chewbacca and his Bowcaster. Fortnite‘s Rocket Racing has added new skins and tracks based on a Galaxy Far, Far Away. And even Fortnite Festival has added Star Wars-themed instruments and the Cantina Band song. In many ways, this feels like an ultimate celebration of Star Wars, which makes its battle pass feel even more lackluster.

Fortnite

Fortnite is a massively popular game that has several modes, the most famous of which is the online battle royale mode. In this mode, players collect items, build structures, and battle it out to be the ultimate victor.

Released: July 25, 2017
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
ESRB: T for Teen – Violence
Metascore: 78
Platforms That Support Crossplay: Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
Split Screen Orientation: Horizontal Only
Number of Players: 1-2
Local Co-Op Support: 1-2 Players
PS Plus Availability: N/A