Fortnite and Lego are coming for the Roblox crown
The LEGO and Fortnite collaboration started as a game and is going through a bit of a change. When LEGO Fortnite was first released it was a pseudo Minecraft survival game, However as the pair expands their partnership, LEGO Fortnite is now, like the rest of Fortnite, more of a platform. The original game rebranded as LEGO Fortnite Odyssey, to showcase its adventure game status.
Nothing much has changed aside the name. It’s still very much a place for adventure. You start off with nothing and craft your way to better opportunities, using exploration to fill out the map and stumble upon exciting moments. As the game ages past its first birthday, we’ve seen a few updates to push the experience further and add longevity for its players. Bigger than that though is the expansion of the LEGO brand on the Fortnite homepage.
This shift in branding has opened up the partnership, making LEGO Fortnite a place to be, rather than one experience. A cursory glance intimates the direction the two juggernaut companies want to explore - it looks as if they’re taking on Roblox.
This is seen clearly in the latest LEGO experience to be added to the platform, LEGO Brick Life, which feels a lot like the lifestyle games of Roblox. Welcome to Bloxburg, Mad City 2, and Brookhaven RP are just a few that put the player in a small city with friends to role-play some form of life. And now Fortnite is getting a slice of the pie, rather than watch as players, particularly younger players, abandon them for Roblox.
Advert
This new game gives players a city to hang out in with no stakes - you can’t even earn XP here, it’s just good vibes and hanging out with friends. It shows that the two companies are aiming to further expand Fortnite as a platform, and it’s likely we’ll see more game types appear as Epic Games looks to dominate the industry for yet another year.
Why is this a good avenue for both companies? There are myriad answers to that one. Firstly, I’d say - and I say this having worked on a number of books about Roblox and I do have some fondness for that platform - it’s time Roblox got some proper competition and was nudged from its perch. We’ve already seen the ‘Roblox’ effect infiltrate Fortnite via the Creative Mode available to all. Games that are synonymous with Roblox - Tycoons, Obbys (short for obstacle courses), and life sims - are all available through Fortnite now.
It makes sense to lean into this and give players a new place to come and experience those game types. Plus, by bringing those players to Fortnite, they’re pulling them into the ecosystem or giving them more reasons to stay. Your skins work on pretty much all the games, your LEGO obstacle course game can use Marvel characters! Yay! It’s the dream product for kids and families, particularly ones who want to eschew the Battle Royale.
This expansion also works because both companies make money from each other and can cross-promote. One of the updates to LEGO Fortnite Odyssey was about Star Wars, and you can now find bases across the map designed after the films. You can wield a blaster, or a lightsaber, too. It has become the ultimate toy box, perhaps finally capturing what the ‘toys to life’ movement initially intended to do, swapping the plastic toys for in-game skins.
It essentially becomes a sand box for those who play, and it’s only going to get bigger. When we spoke to Remi Marcelli, SVP and Head of LEGO GAME from the LEGO Group, we discussed the future of the partnership, and what players can expect over the coming years.
“When we launched LEGO Fortnite 12 months ago, we always said it was just the beginning, and we would continue to grow and expand our offering – with the launches of LEGO Fortnite Odyssey and LEGO Fortnite Brick Life being the next part of that,” said Marcelli.
Does this mean the two companies will begin to tap into the wealth of IP that LEGO has to hand? Marcelli plays it pretty coy, saying, “Who knows where future collaborations may pop up in LEGO Fortnite in the near future… watch this space!”
We’ve already seen Star Wars appear in LEGO Fortnite Odyssey. And in another of the platform’s games, we’ve had the chance to interact with another of the huge LEGO properties, Ninjago, via the LEGO Battle Arena. It would be foolish to not take advantage of one another’s reach. Epic Games has huge ties with Disney, as does LEGO, giving it a distinct leg up over Roblox and other competitors.
Of course, there’s a cynical part of me that believes this release of LEGO properties is well-timed on the part of Fortnite, Epic Games and its partners. We’ve looked on at the fallout towards Roblox in recent years and seen the seemingly never-ending controversies of child labour, child exploitation, and a lack of safety options for users. This creates a perfect gap for someone to swoop in and capitalise.
Millions of people are already tapped into Fortnite, so why let them go over to a competitor who perhaps doesn’t oversee the details of the games on their platform, when you can keep the players here and give them a safer experience. One developed over years of updates and changes to the Battle Royale.
How does that work for LEGO? Do the two companies influence each other? Marcelli believes so, saying, “What’s important is that our two brands have a strong set of shared values – we both believe in unleashing creativity and imagination through amazing, immersive play experiences that enable everyone to participate.”
Of course, LEGO is a family product and while there are some playful moments of violence in the adventure game, it provides a breather from the frantic gun play of Fortnite’s other game modes. This, again, allows the companies to tap into a new audience, providing a new space of younger gamers who can move through the various aspects of the platform.
LEGO sees it as a chance to embrace creativity. Marcelli is keen to emphasise this by saying, “One of the key goals we set out when we announced our partnership with Epic Games is to work together in democratising creativity – putting the best tools in the hands of creators to power the future of play.” While I don’t want to put words in mouths, you could say that’s exactly what Roblox creators aim to do, so it’s easy to see the two as rivals in the space.
The company really wants to push for UGC (User Generated Content) that allows players to become creators, which is the ethos of LEGO. After all, even when creating a designed set of LEGO, we’re still involved in the aspect of creation with entertainment in mind. So, Marcelli’s comments make a lot of sense.
He went on to say, “You can find hundreds of these creator-made LEGO Fortnite Islands to explore, all offering different and unique play experiences, with something for everyone.” However, he’s quick to set minds at ease and emphasise player safety as he continues, “LEGO Islands is ensuring they are appropriately rated to allow players of all ages to discover and enjoy them, which is an ESRB rating of E10+ or lower to be accessible to players in the United States, and a PEGI rating of 7 or lower to be accessible to players in most of Europe.”
I’ll be honest, when I first played LEGO Fortnite Odyssey back on day one I enjoyed it a lot, but it felt like a stop-gap, something that could be an experiment on the way to something larger. Perhaps that was the case, though the fans still playing are forcing evolution to keep the game fresh, and now we’re seeing this broadening of horizons.
After dabbling in many more LEGO Islands, it seems the shift is stark. This expansion is a bold line in the sand that doesn’t only set up the future of LEGO in an interactive space, but it also gives us a view of the future of Fortnite. One that is already set to bring a “Disney Experience” to players after the house of mouse invested $1.5 billion into Epic Games.
For years, we’ve pfffted at terms like ‘metaverse’ despite Tim Sweeny’s insistence on this being his end goal, and we are edging closer to that reality with Fortnite becoming the hub and each of the partnered brands taking care of different demographics. I’m unconvinced if this is a bad thing, but I do know that the reach of Fortnite and LEGO won’t stop in 2025, or even in 2026. They’re coming for more players, and they’re definitely coming for Roblox. I didn’t get a chance to ask Marcelli if the Roblox comparison, or structured competition, was fair or even intended, but it’s hard to imagine that it’s not.
Topics: Fortnite, Lego, Epic Games