Update 22/11/2023: Epic Games has confirmed Eminem, the rapper Eminem, will perform in Fortnite for its Big Bang event, and that players can purchase skins to become Slim Shady themselves.
An update to the Big Bang announcement post revealed a first look at those skins, and Epic confirmed they will be available on November 27 at 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern / 12midnight UK.
🛰 calling all grandmas 12.2 pic.twitter.com/5WhalpnOEW
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) November 21, 2023
Three different outfits will be available: Rap Boy, which recreates Eminem's superhero persona from the Without Me music video; Marshall Never More, which sees the rapper don a suit; and Slim Shady, which is perhaps closest to Eminem's good old days upon the release of the Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers LPs.
Those who own the Marshall Never More skin and watch the Big Bang event on December 2 will also unlock a variant called Marshall Magma, that turns the rapper's eyes black and yellow and adds some red hot marks across his face.
Original Article 21/11/2023: Epic Games has promised an "unforgettable" Big Bang event will take place in Fortnite on December 2, probably starring Eminem.
A Fortnite blog post revealed the event will begin at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern / 7pm UK, though the experience will be available in the Battle Royale tile in Discover 30 minutes prior. It supports parties of up to four players and comes with a photosensitivity and seizures warning due to flashing lights.
The Big Bang event will be "evolving all things as you know them" according to a post on X/Twitter (below) and will feature a "memorable reveal toward the end". This is likely the transition into a new Chapter as Fortnite's OG Update, which saw the highest player numbers of all time, is replaced by something new.
✅ Unforgettable event
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) November 21, 2023
✅ Evolving all things as you know them
✅ Memorable reveal toward the end
December 2, 2023. 2pm ET. pic.twitter.com/xAhMKtmwiG
Eminem will likely feature too, according to a leak that surfaced ahead of the Big Bang event announcement, as revealed by HypeX on X/Twitter. Slim Shady will seemingly appear as a skin, but since Epic Games likes to have music stars put virtual concerts on inside Fortnite, a performance from the rapper is also on the cards.
The Big Bang event will have a lot to prove given the popularity of the current OG Update, which saw 44.7 million players log on in a single day in what Epic Games described as "the biggest day in Fortnite's history".
It will also follow a wave of controversy as Epic Games implemented then disabled age restricted cosmetics, with players criticising it as one of the "worst updates" in Fortnite history.
Image Credit: Epic Games
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.