Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
Topics: Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, Fortnite
Cyberpunk 2077 has been caught up in yet another controversy, though this one isn’t as bad as the game’s rocky launch period.
There arguably hasn’t been a greater redemption story in gaming than Cyberpunk 2077. No Man’s Sky is the closest argument you could make, but given CD Projekt Red’s reputation and prestige prior to the game’s launch, Cyberpunk’s early struggles hit gamers hard.
Since then the game has blossomed into something beautiful, so it’s a shame to see it once again dragged down through no fault of its own.
Cyberpunk 2077 has collaborated in the past with Epic Games’ Fortnite, with two skins allowing players to don the appearance of the protagonist V, the female version, and Johnny Silverhand.
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Both of those skins recently returned to the Item Shop, but they were supposed to be joined by a third, brand-new skin of the infamous antagonist Adam Smasher.
Adam Smasher is the villain who killed Johnny Silverhand because his consciousness downloaded to the Relic. He also had a major role in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime, making the boss fight with him in-game feel all the more rewarding after knowing what atrocities he’s committed over the years.
Moving on, Smasher was to be a Fortnite skin but his Fortnite debut has seemingly been delayed, and fans believe they know exactly why.
“Fortnite Adam Smasher - Delayed indefinitely apparently. Not shocking if you understand the character and timing” said Happy Power on Twitter, prompting a discussion into what led to the delay.
The dominant theory is that the skin’s initially planned release in the Item Shop on 24 March would have been in bad taste, and as such the release date was pushed back.
Epic Games has been under fire this week for laying off 1,000 employees, many of whom worked closely on Fortnite and its various game modes. Even Vitaliy Naymushin, the designer behind the face of Fortnite, Jonesy, lost his job.
Naturally there has been a lot of backlash and many now believe that Smasher’s skin was delayed because in-lore he works for a greedy, soulless corporation that doesn’t value human life. It might have raised a few eyebrows.
Whether that’s actually the case or not is unknown but it certainly feels like coincidence.
Adam Smasher will be added to the Fortnite Item Shop sooner or later though, so if you’re desperate to add him to your skin collection just keep waiting.