Robocop, the horrific cyborg creation of a rapacious mega-corp seeking to impose its will on the sick, crumbling remains of a capitalist empire, is the latest pop culture icon to make its way to Fortnite.
Available now in the Fortnite Item Shop, this violent, inhuman tool of bloated corporate overlords comes armed with the leg (clever pun there) of ED-209, the pre-Robocop law enforcement machine that was a little too efficient at its job. The LEG-209 serves as Back Bling for the Robocop outfit, and also does duty as a pickaxe. They’re both included in the Robocop Bundle, along with the Lil’ ED-209 emote.
My initial reaction to Robocop in Fortnite is that it’s kind of a strange addition. Robocop, after all, was a scathing critique of corporatism, capitalism, systemic corruption, and the slow-motion failure of modern society, while Fortnite is more akin to an interactive embrace of every pop culture phenomenon under the sun—not a lot of obvious cross-compatibility there. I feel like it’s a bit out of date for Fortnite’s audience, too: The original Robocop came out in 1987, after all.
On the other hand, it was pointed out to me that everything edgy is eventually sold back to us as toys by the same corporations they once criticized—and Robocop director Paul Verhoeven would probably be thoroughly amused by the whole thing anyway.
Ultimately, Fortnite is an all-out crossover free-for-all—recent additions to the game include Assassin’s Creed, Doctor Who, Naomi Osaka, and the X-Men—and I recalled as I was writing this that the Terminator, who once ripped a man’s heart out of his chest so he could take his jacket, joined the game in January 2021. So I guess the addition of Robocop isn’t all that out-of-bounds after all.
Robocop is available in the Fortnite Item Store now. This is what it looks like.
