Highlights
- Fortnite’s Chapter 6 “Zero Hour” finale drew 10.5M players and 3M livestreams, uniting Godzilla, Hatsune Miku, Homer Simpson, Iron Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and other IPs.
- Epic framed the event as its biggest licensing and narrative gamble, with Mark Rein negotiating IP deals personally.
- The event unlocked the new Hollywood-styled Chapter 7 map “Battlewood,” and set Fortnite’s next phase in motion from Dec. 11.
Epic Games’ Fortnite’s Chapter 6 finale, the “Zero Hour” live event, drew 10.5M in-game participants and 3M live streams on Nov. 29, a feat the company described as “Absolute Cinema.” The finale pitted a roster of cross-media icons, from Godzilla and Hatsune Miku to Homer Simpson, Ironman and others, against a massive “Dark Presence” monster for a 12-minute, cinematic, multi-reality showdown.
“Zero Event” took place in Fortnite: Battle Royale mode on Nov. 29, 2025. The whole event included a Live Event of Chapter 6: Mini Season 2, Chapter 6, and the complete Phase 1, marking the season’s end before the launch of Chapter 7.
Reporting platforms like PCGamer has attributed the scale of the final battle as Avenger-esque, with the whole line-up showcasing Superman, Iron Man, the K-Pop Demon Hunters, Hatsune Miku, Godzilla, King Kong, Homer Simpson, Power Rangers in Megazord form, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), some Star Wars elements, along with random Squid Games and Fortnite characters.
Epic’s High-Stakes Narrative and Licensing Gamble
While Fortnite is known for cross-media and cross-cultural collabs, what sets Zero Hour apart is its unprecedented scale of cross-media collaboration. The event united characters from multiple intellectual property universes— Kaiju (monsters), anime idols, animated icons, superheroes (Marvel and TMNT), and alike— within a single narrative thread.
It became a massive scale success, building on the company’s vision for the Fortnite universe. Epic’s studio leadership framed this ambition as a bet on the power of licensed crossovers, noting that partners trusted them with their “sacred intellectual property.” According to Epic Games’ co-founder, Mark Rein, he negotiated all the licensing deals himself, albeit having a great legal team. He also attributed the success to the game’s design and development divisions.
Zero Hour’s success transformed a seasonal update into a must-see global event. After the final battle, Chapter 7’s new map, Battlewood, with Hollywood and Los Angeles aesthetics, was unlocked for players. Chapter 7 will start on Fortnite on Dec. 11 with Delulu returning on Dec. 12.
