Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

If you’ve opened the App Store lately and felt like you were drowning in a sea of games that all look suspiciously familiar, you aren’t crazy. You’re just living through the most aggressive, expensive, and weirdly automated era in gaming history. The latest industry autopsy—the State of Gaming for Marketers – 2026 Edition—paints a picture of an industry where the technical walls to making a game have effectively crumbled, leaving every developer on the planet fighting a high-speed, automated war for five minutes of your time. This isn’t your older brother’s mobile market. We are talking about a $25 billion ecosystem where the code is often written by bots and the ads are designed to sniff out your specific psychological triggers before you even finish your morning coffee. Whether you’re a casual player or an analyst tracking 2026 mobile gaming trends, the rules of the game just changed forever.

The AI Slop Tsunami: Why Everything Looks the Same

Let’s be real about the situation: AI has “solved” the problem of making games, but it created a massive headache for the people playing them. The 2026 report highlights a staggering paradox where ad impressions surged by 20% in 2025, while the actual share of paid installs only moved about 10%. The math is simple and brutal. It means companies are screaming 20% louder just to get a fraction of the same attention. This is the AI game development impact in full effect. Any small studio can now use generative tools to churn out code, art, and mechanics at a speed that used to require a team of a hundred people.

This isn’t a win for creativity; it’s a tidal wave of “microslop”—games that look flashy in a trailer but lack any real soul once you actually start playing. Because it’s now cheap to build a game, the real expense has shifted. It’s no longer about whether you can build a project. It’s about whether you can pay enough to make sure people look at it. The bottleneck has moved from the production studio to the marketing department. Success in 2026 belongs to the teams that can navigate this surplus of content, which is expanding way faster than player attention. We are seeing a world where “speed to market” has replaced “quality of craft” as the primary metric for success.

The Death of the Console Crown

For decades, Japan was the undisputed center of the gaming universe. Nintendo, Sony, and Sega built the foundation. They still hold the crown for prestige gaming and the hardware that defines our childhoods. But the 2026 data shows that the actual power—the money and the influence—has moved to the device in your pocket. Chinese mobile game publishers global growth is the real earthquake here. These companies now command 35% of the global marketing spend outside China, a massive 22% jump in a single year. While they don’t own a famous console like the Switch or the PlayStation, they’ve realized they don’t need to. Titans like Tencent, NetEase, and miHoYo are winning by owning the software and the systems that run on every phone.

We are witnessing a new phase of globalization. The Eastern model of gaming—highly social, constantly updated, and built around aggressive live-ops—is becoming the global standard. Whether it is the cinematic depth of Genshin Impact or the social dominance of Honor of Kings, these publishers are crushing it in markets that used to be Western strongholds. They recorded gains of 34% in France, 31% in Germany, and 26% in the UK. Even Japan, arguably the toughest market in the world for outsiders, saw Chinese publishers expand their footprint by 25%. This is a “cultural confidence” shift. They aren’t just making games; they are exporting a way of life that demands your daily attendance.

The Epic Marriage: Western Tech Meets Eastern Strategy

You can’t talk about this shift without talking about the bridge between these two worlds: Epic Games. While Epic is a quintessential American company, its DNA is heavily influenced by the East. Tencent holds a massive stake in the company, a partnership that essentially married Western engine technology like Unreal Engine with the Eastern playbook for games-as-a-service. This connection is why Fortnite doesn’t feel like a simple shooter; it feels like a persistent social ecosystem, much like the hits coming out of Shenzhen.

But this partnership is leading the direct-to-consumer rebellion. Epic is leading the charge to bypass the 30% tax charged by Apple and Google. They are betting that they can use their own marketplace to bypass the gatekeepers, a move that could completely rewire how mobile games are distributed in the West. It is a strategic move to own the relationship with the player, much like how PUBG Mobile or Honkai: Star Rail maintain massive, direct fanbases across multiple platforms. This is the new reality: companies want to own your wallet, and they are tired of paying rent to the platform holders.

The Creative Arms Race: 2,600 Ads a Quarter

The sheer scale of the marketing machine in 2026 is hard to wrap your head around. The top-spending gaming companies—the ones behind massive hits like Monopoly Go! or PUBG Mobile—are now pushing out between 2,400 and 2,600 different ad variations every single quarter. This is an industrialized creative factory. They aren’t just making a commercial; they are using algorithms to test thousands of different hooks on you.

Maybe you see an ad for Last War: Survival with a blue knight while your friend sees the same game disguised as a puzzle mechanic. They are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Small advertisers are being forced to scale their output by 40% just to avoid being drowned out. If the games you see lately feel samey, it’s because they’re all being optimized by the same types of AI to find the exact same psychological triggers. Creative performance is no longer an art; it is a numbers game where testing velocity determines who survives and who disappears.

Following the Money: US Fatigue vs. Emerging Energy

The US is still the heavyweight champ of spending, accounting for 45% of total iOS revenue, but growth is stalling. Mobile user acquisition costs 2026 have become so high in the US that spending actually dropped 5% last year. High media costs and intense competition make it hard to justify pouring more money into a market that is already saturated. Instead, the industry is looking at emerging markets like Turkey and India, where spending jumped 29% and 19% respectively.

These regions are the new front lines. In these markets, the game is different. It’s not necessarily about getting you to buy a $99 pack of gems in a game like Genshin Impact; it’s about getting millions of people to watch ads. This creates a polarized world: Western players are being squeezed for big in-app purchases, where 66% of iOS revenue still lives, while the rest of the world is being fed a constant stream of in-app advertising to keep the engine running. We are seeing a market split between high-spending Western IAP hubs and ad-supported non-Western powerhouses.

The Data Split: Speed vs. Depth

The Eastern influence is no longer a slow creep; it is a full-on sprint into mature markets that were previously dominated by local players. This success is tied directly to how these teams use data. The report reveals a deep split in how different genres are surviving this war. Hypercasual is the most dependent on paid traffic, sitting at 83% on Android. It’s all about speed. Hypercasual teams dedicate over 50% of their AI usage to reporting because they need to know right now if a game is a flop so they can kill it and move on.

Meanwhile, midcore and casino genres go deeper. Only 15% of their AI queries are about simple reporting. The rest are for anomaly diagnosis and explaining changes. When you have high-value players in games like Honkai: Star Rail, you don’t just want to know what happened. You need to know why they stopped spending. This level of sophistication is what separates the winners from the “slop” makers. They aren’t just watching the numbers; they are interpreting the behavior of the “whales” to ensure long-term monetization.

The Hybrid-Casual Meta: Survival of the Fittest

If you’re wondering why every game feels like it’s trying to do ten things at once, it’s because of the hybrid-casual monetization strategy. In 2025, 7% more apps shifted to a hybrid model. The goal is simple: monetize the casual players with ads while hooking the whales with deep, complex purchase loops. Games like Whiteout Survival are the masters of this. They lure you in with a simple ad, but once you’re inside, you find a massive, social, competitive machine that wants your time as much as your wallet.

Fewer than 30% of games are hybrid right now, but that number is climbing as pure ad-supported or purchase-only models struggle to survive the rising costs of user acquisition. This is the industry “middle ground” where studios are trying to find a resilient monetization mix. By blending simple mechanics with deeper layers, they maximize the average revenue per daily active user across their entire base.

Robots in the War Room: AI as the Ultimate Snitch

One of the most telling stats in the report is that 46% of AI assistant queries from gaming teams focus on reporting. Despite the hype about AI creating the next big thing, the industry is actually using it as a high-speed analytics assistant. Teams are using AI to keep pace with the massive volume of data they’ve created.

In a world with 24.8 billion installs and 2,600 ad variations, a human can’t possibly keep track of what’s working. The machines are now the ones telling the humans which creative hook is actually paying the bills. It’s a closed loop where AI makes the ads and AI tells you which ones to keep. The production problem is solved, but the attention problem has intensified. Success in 2026 belongs to teams who can stitch data from multiple sources together, making sense of the noise and fragmentation that AI-driven scale creates.

The Zero-Sum Reality

At the end of the day, we’ve reached a zero-sum state. There are only 24 hours in a day, and the audience isn’t growing as fast as the content is. For you to play a new game, you have to quit something old. The production problem is dead. Anyone can make a game in 2026. The attention problem is the new war, and the battlefield is increasingly dominated by those who can master unified data and aggressive marketing scale.

Whether it’s a massive studio in Beijing or a scrappy team in the US, everyone is using the same AI tools to hunt for your attention. In this era, your time isn’t just a metric. It’s the most valuable currency on the planet, and the Eastern influence is simply proving that they are currently the most efficient at collecting it. 2026 isn’t about the hardware you own. It’s about the software that owns your time.

The post The Attention War: Why Your Phone is the New Front Line for Global Gaming appeared first on Game Reviews, News, Videos & More for Every Gamer – PC, PlayStation, Xbox in 2026.

Fortnite‘s Chapter 7 Season 3 has added several Sprites to the island, and you can find them to get different boosts. Every Sprite has a different ability, and we will usually start with one by default (from the starters). However, there are plenty more of them to be found, but you’ll have to extract them to make them useable.

How to extract Sprites in Fortnite

The first part of the task is to collect Sprites during a fresh round. The one you have equipped from the beginning won’t count. You’ll need to find a new one, and all variants count. Once you find a Sprite, add it to your backpack. You can also add a second one to carry in your hands, but you will be unable to use weapons (hence, carry one at a time).

Next, look for Extraction Sites. These locations are spread across different areas of the map, and they activate once the first circle closes. The locations will be marked, but be careful when you approach one. If an enemy is in the process of Sprite extraction, chances are that there might be a gunfight.

Once the spot is safe, use the control panel to call an Extraction Create. Once active, you’ll need to wait a few seconds for the crate to arrive. If you die meanwhile, your objective will fail. Try to play defensively when you’re waiting for the Extraction Crate to arrive.

Next, the Extraction Crate will drop from the sky. Place the Sprite you have and wait for a few more seconds. The Extraction Crate takes some time to disappear. Once it does, the Sprite you extracted successfully will be unlocked for you to use (assuming you already hadn’t unlocked it).

Adding the Sprites to your collection is a major reason behind extraction. However, certain quests in the new season also require you to complete a successful extraction. Doing so will provide you with seasonal XP that will contribute towards unlocking items on the battle pass.

Finally, you’ll also get Sprite Dust from successful extraction. You can use the resource at Sprite Stations. You can also use the same resource to summon Sprites at the start of a fresh round.

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The post How to extract Sprites in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

The Runners season is now live in Fortnite, and there’s a unique Battle Pass quest to complete. The quest involves saving John Wick’s Dog as part of the latest collaboration. Doing so not only gets you extra XP, but you also get more rewards.

Let’s go through the complete process.

John Wick’s Dog location in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3

While the dog has random locations, the best spot is at Sinister Strip. Located towards the southern part of the map, you will find the adorable pup on the first floor of the large building. Go past the gigantic Sprite hologram, and you’ll find the required building. However, this isn’t the only location where the dog can spawn.

Once you approach the location, you’ll find that he is trapped inside a cage. First, clear the initial batch of guards who start shooting when they spot you. Next, an additional wave of enemies will spawn. Clear the second wave, and watch out for other players.

Approach the cage after the coast is clear.

How to rescue and pet John Wick’s Dog in Fortnite

When you’re near the cage, you’ll get the option to open it. This will complete the rescue part. Next, go close to the dog to pet him, which will complete the Battle Pass quest. This earns you seasonal XP that progresses your pass. However, you’ll also unlock a new Sidekick, and he has different cusotmizations.

To unlock the customizations, you’ll need to play Chapter 7 Season 3 with the Dog (Pen and Ink) equipped. Doing so will unlock the following cosmetics.

• Good Dog Emoji
• Gradient Style
• Heart of Gold Reaction
• Sweet Tricks Sidekick Emote

When you pet the creature, there’s also a chance for the Legendary Lancehead Pistol to drop. This is unlikely to be a guaranteed drop, so you’ll need to get lucky. At worst, you’ll still get some valuable rewards to help you enhance your loadout.

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Chapter 7 Season 3 adds a bit of extra favor in Fortnite, as we can choose between three starting Sprites. Each of them offers certain benefits once you equip them before the start of a fresh round. All three of them have unique abilities that activate during a round.

Getting the best possible choice will certainly help raise the chances of your success during a round. Let’s find out which one you should pick.

All starting Sprite options in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3

There are three different options to pick from.

• Water Sprite: Heal when standing in water. The heals apply for your entire squad.
• Fire Sprite: Create a fiery burst when dealing damage to an enemy. This can do extra damage.
• Earth Sprite: Have a chance of receiving extra rare items when opening chests. This will raise the odds of finding those shinies.

As clear from the descriptions, all three are pretty useful as starter Sprites. However, you get to pick just one. Here are my recommendations based on your playstyles and preferences.

• Go for Earth Sprite if you like to loot as many chests as possible. I went with this one for the same reason. Getting those rarer items will also help you to get better gear and have a natural advantage over your opponents.
• Select Fire Sprite if you like taking on enemies and targeting as many kills as possible. The extra damage boost could be a big advantage in the end when it comes to getting eliminations.
• Choose Water Sprite if you’re playing in a squad. To get the full potential of the heals, it’s advisable that you play in a group.

However, there are other Sprites to find while you explore the map. The starter Sprites offer certain advantages, but they’re not overpowered.

To begin a round with a Sprite, select your starting pick. You can then equip them from the lobby screen before beginning a fresh round. Once you land on the map, your equipped Sprite will automatically become active when the applicable scenario arises.

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The post And That’s the Bottom Line: Stone Cold Steve Austin Arrives in Fortnite appeared first on GamesHub.

Epic Games announced this landmark event in the news section of its website. The company noted that this result was achieved due to prolonged legal proceedings in the United States.

More details: https://gameworldobserver.com/2026/05/19/fortnite-has-returned-to-the-app-store-worldwide-except-in-australia

The authorities have made the same demand to the owners of Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. They appealed to them directly.

More details: https://gameworldobserver.com/2026/04/22/the-australian-authorities-have-demanded-that-valve-explain-how-it-combats-extremism-on-steam

When the next Fortnite season comes around after a live event, you'll want to grind as much as possible so you can get through the new Battle Pass, and we've got the best Fortnite XP maps to level up fast so you can do just that!

These maps won't get you banned either, as no cheats or hacks are required. Just good old-fashioned exploits! You can, of course, level up by playing the game, but time is money, and you might want to get your money's worth now, as a proposed UK government ban could potentially impact Fortnite.

What's more, many of these maps aren't just AFK XP farming maps and are very fun in their own right!

With all that said, read on for the best Fortnite XP maps to level up fast!

The best Fortnite XP maps to level up fast

Every Fortnite map listed can be accessed via a map code, or by typing the name of the map via the search bar. See below for the latest Fortnite maps that are best for earning XP.

FortM

Map code: 6163-6465-2983

Creator: poobie

This custom map not only offers an almost GTA-like experience, but also a sneaky method of getting a huge amount of XP, and it's really simple to do.

• When you first launch the game, join the GBA gang
• Go to the GBA base and repeatedly interact with the NPC next to the barrel fire
• With your in-game phone, switch gangs to The Family, head to its base and find the table next to the house and car with the Family button on it, and repeatedly interact with it

Aim, Edit, Piece

Map code: 0641-9979-4778

Creator: Openworld

This UEFN practice map is designed to help improve aim, edits, one-versus-one combat and building with 125 training drills; however, it also offers lots of XP upon completion.

Prison Escape

Map code: 7300-0705-2924

Creator: itemi

This one is extremely easy and is a great option for AFK XP farming. All you need to do is hang out in the pre-game lobby and sit by the campfire. You'll see that XP ramp up!

If it does stop, then make sure to move about every couple of minutes. Just stick on a Radio Times Gaming YouTube video, sit back and enjoy!

You can, of course, play through the map as well, which is great fun.

Cars Mega Ramp

Map code: 7664-4585-8324

Creator: DW-E

Your mission, should you accept it, is to drive any vehicle you like down a massive ramp. The further you go, the more XP you'll get. Good luck if you choose the shopping trolley.

While we've got your attention... reckon you're a Fortnite expert? Try our quiz below!

View Riddle on the source website

Winter Trickshot Parkour

Map code: 1275-4602-9363

Creator: unitystudio

There are a few ways to grind XP on this map, and they're all worth doing.

• Once the game begins, head into the room on the left and collect all the coins
• Head into the room on the right and hop on the rail to grind XP whilst AFK
• Next to the rail is a jump pad you can bounce on to grind XP as well

333 Level Aqua Deathrun

Map code: 6441-2749-0646

Creator: fhsupport

How about an obstacle course set under the sea? Sprint through this colourful platforming map without dying and take home tons of XP. Just watch out for the electric fences!

Lyadoll Party Royale

Map code: 7112-8777-0902

Creator: lymt3

Lyadoll Party Royale is another good shout if you'd like to earn XP without a whole lot of effort. At the southern end of the map is a campfire you can chill by; otherwise, there are coins around the map to collect, vending machines to use and cones on the beach to find that will all award you with XP.

Santa Slide and Chill

Map code: 1631-1033-4522

Creator: soyzoella

This is another great AFK XP map, as all you need to do is hop on the rail and slide. If you sprint, you'll go faster and gain more XP. Once you reach the end, you will be teleported back and you'll have to hop back on again.

View Affiliate Playlist on the source website

Please note that Epic regularly likes to patch and update maps in Fortnite, especially ones from the community that have proven to be a great way to farm XP. We'll update the best Fortnite XP maps regularly so you can level up fast.

Fortnite is available via the Epic Games Store across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.

Discover more with Fortnite creative map codes: Fortnite horror maps | Fortnite action-adventure maps | Fortnite hide and seek maps | Fortnite Zone Wars maps | Fortnite fighting maps | Fortnite parkour maps | best Fortnite creative maps | Fortnite Squid Game map codes | Fortnite Monopoly code | Fortnite I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here code | Fortnite Doctor Who map code

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

With the next Fortnite season almost upon us, we thought that while you wait for the Shattered live event, you ought to get up to speed on the Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Runners Battle Pass, as Epic Games has teased a glimpse of what's to come!

One of the biggest changes is how Sprites are going to be incorporated into the game, as they look to take a much more prominent role in how the meta will be shaped.

There are, of course, new POIs, weapons and more, and we'll go over what we know at the moment about what's coming in Chapter 7 Season 3 Runners.

Hopefully, we will continue to be able to enjoy Fortnite as we always have, even if a UK government ban could potentially impact Fortnite.

If you're really twiddling your thumbs waiting for the new Fortnite Battle Pass to roll out, then why not check out our Fortnite Steal the Brainrot codes page?

But, without further ado, read on for all there is to know about the new Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Runners Battle Pass!

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 battle pass: All skins revealed

As you can see in the above image, there are eight new skins as part of the Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Runners battle pass.

From left to right, these are:

• Heatwave PJ
• Cluster
• Dylan
• The Guardian
• John Wick (Pen and Ink)
• The Voidblade
• Vanguard Slone
• Wolfe

The Guardian is customisable, featuring a Sprite up top as the pilot, if you will, with other elements of the sit being able to be modified, such as selecting different colours and parts.

On that note, there are number of already confirmed Sprites:

• Skully Sprite
• Fishstick Sprite
• Punk Sprite
• Magma Sprite
• Burnt Peanut Sprite

As a launch week bonus, you can unlock Gold Huntress Dylan, which also comes with a Marbled Speedboat, Venomous Chainsaw and a Gilded Cherub Holster, all of which are suitably gold.

View oEmbed on the source website

John Wick gets some love too, receiving the Gunglider, Dark Cubic Sneakers, Blade of the Void, and, rather unceremoniously, his Dog.

The Runners battle pass will cost 800 V-Bucks when it goes live

What's new in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 Runners?

As well as the skins, there are also new items and weapons added to the roster, as well as new POIs to explore. Check out what's new below!

Chaos Reloader Assault Rifle

We've already had the Chaos Reloader Shotgun in Chapter 7 Season 2, so it's no surprise to see this range of weaponry extend to assault rifles. There's no word yet on how powerful it will be, but the shotgun was devastating. Hopefully, the AR continues the traditions!

Triple-Barrel Shotgun

If the Chaos Reloader Shotgun wasn't bonkers enough for you, then perhaps the Triple-Barreled Shotgun will do the trick. Again, we have no idea on what the stats are, but it's likely to come in clutch for close-quarters engagements or dealing with pesky bosses after taking their shields down with an SMG.

New Tropical POI

In place of the old Dark Dominion POI, we are getting a new tropical locale, which is much better suited to the summer vibes of Runners. At the centre of the POI is the Zero Point, so expect to see lots of players and anomalies here!

Duck Mansion POI

Alongside the Duck Head skin, we are getting a new Duck Mansion POI. Again, details are light at the moment, but we could see a Duck Head NPC or boss here. This POI will likely be a hot spot for player activity, so play it safe when dropping in!

How do Sprites work in Fortnite?

Sprites, which were introduced in Chapter 6 Season 1, are little creatures that you can attach to yourself in order to gain extra abilities or buffs. Chapter 7 Season 3 looks to be introducing more Sprites than ever, with new types, the abilities of which are unknown at this moment.

With the mech suit that is customisable, you can use different Sprites as the pilot, and this may affect what abilities you can use.

Sprites may be able to work in tandem with weapons and items too, as in the new trailer, a Fire Sprite cause a Chaos Reloader Assault Rifle to trigger an explosion. If this is the case, we could see a lot of experimentation and a new loadout weapon emerge.

View Green Video on the source website

Discover more with Fortnite creative map codes: Fortnite horror maps | Fortnite action-adventure maps | Fortnite hide and seek maps | Fortnite Zone Wars maps | Fortnite fighting maps | Fortnite parkour maps | best Fortnite creative maps | Fortnite Squid Game map codes | Fortnite Monopoly code | Fortnite I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here code | Fortnite Doctor Who map code

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 is already shaping up to be a big season, and while this comes off the back of some controversial changes regarding V-Buck prices and the amount of V-Bucks players can earn through Fortnite Crew, one major quality-of-life update now allows players to return certain purchased items for a V-Buck refund without using a Return Ticket. Here is how to return items without a Return Ticket in Fortnite.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3: Runners debuts its Week 1 Kickstart quests, which feature a bundle of unique challenges for the sweet prize of XP to gain further rewards in the new Battle Pass. If you need help with the quests, we've got you covered.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3: Runners debuts with a bunch of quests for you to complete so you can kickstart your XP gains to unlock new rewards and skins in the Battle Pass. One such quest chain is Sprite Safari, which will teach you all there is to know about Sprites.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3 has arrived, and with it comes an all-new Battle Pass, loot pool, and, of course, yet another Victory Royale Glider to get for free (provided you can become a champion of just one game).

Twitch streamer 'TheBurntPeanut' was originally slated to be included in Fortnite Chapter 7, Season 3, but following huge backlash from Fortnite fans, the streamer is notably absent from the Battle Pass reveal, sparking rumors that Epic Games has backed out of the collaboration.

Hearing squeaky little voices in your online games may be a thing of the past, at least in the United Kingdom. As the British government continues to take steps to combat the effects of the internet on young people, one possible inclusion in the Online Safety Act would ban children from using voice chat in online games like Fortnite and Roblox to talk to strangers.

Summer Game Fest has already been going for five days now, but tonight we’re getting to the flagshippiest of the flagship events of the festival when Geoff Keighley’s keynote kicks off at 5 p.m. EDT with reveals and ads and things that are kinda both. MMORPG fans, of course, are most anxiously awaiting the big […]

Video game performer and part-time jester extraordinaire Ben Starr is on his way to Fortnite, the actor has confirmed.

It's been a rather spectacular few years for Starr, who, after shooting to prominence as Clive in Final Fantasy 16, has gone on to play the likes of Prometheus in Hades 2 and Balatro's Jimbo at various live events.

Now, nearly a year on from perhaps his best role yet as Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Starr is set to join Fortnite's iconic The Seven as The Visitor.

In a post on X, Starr wrote "I'm joining Fortnite as The Visitor. I'm so excited to bring back this iconic member of The Seven. I imagine I'll be very normal about it," alongside an image of him gazing lovingly at The Visitor's in-game model.

View oEmbed on the source website

This collection of intergalactic heroes typically poke their heads into the game during Live Events, helping put an end to whatever chaotic goings on are threatening the Fortnite world at that time.

Having taken a break from the story in 2022, The Seven were brought back in style during last year's Zero Hour Live Event.

The Visitor himself was first introduced to the game in the first ever Live Event back in 2018, but ceased to exist after being Chromed in Chapter 3 Season 4.

Starr's version of The Visitor is, therefore, a new incarnation, arriving from a separate reality.

Starr joins The Seven alongside plenty of other heavy hitters, including leader The Foundation (Dwayne Johnson), The Paradigm (Brie Larsen), The Scientist (Joel McHale), The Origin (Rahul Kohli), The Order (Laura Bailey) and The Imagined (Cherami Leigh).

The Visitor is set to make his triumphant return to Battle Royale Island in time for the upcoming Live Event, rounding out the current season in preparation of the start of Chapter 7 Season 2.

View Green Video on the source website

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Fans of Korean monster hunting are set to eat good this week, as by all accounts, we're going to see Solo Leveling in Fortnite, and we’ve got some release date speculation to find out exactly when, as well as what to expect in terms of content.

First published in 2016, Solo Leveling has massively grown, with webtoon adaptations, animes and even a live-action series in the works. It’s just as well that we’re getting some Solo Leveling action now, as series producer Sota Furuhashi wants a 3-year hiatus before season 3. They’ve even taken to Reddit to ask fans for help to get season 3 made.

It’s likely to happen, however, given just how big of a hit it’s been on Crunchyroll.

But, with all that said, let’s see exactly when we can expect Solo Leveling in Fortnite!

Solo Leveling in Fortnite release date speculation

Solo Leveling skins will come to Fortnite Thursday 19 February 2026, according to leaks.

Rumours about the collaboration started to emerge in recent days, but then the official Fortnite account posted a teaser on X (formerly Twitter).

View oEmbed on the source website

Given that the next Fortnite update is 19 February and Epic Games is teasing Solo Leveling a couple of days beforehand, it’s likely that it will be this date.

If any sort of delay happens, or we get an actual confirmation, we will let you know in due time.

Solo Leveling in Fortnite: what to expect

According to AdiraFNInfo on X, a known Fortnite leaker, the Solo Levelling collaboration will potentially feature Sung Jin-woo, Cha Hae-in, and Igris or Beru skins.

Fellow leaker HYPEX shared the findings on X.

View oEmbed on the source website

Of course, none of this is actually confirmed, and we have yet to see any datamined assets, so this is, as always, to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, HYPEX and AdiraFNInfo rarely miss, and it’s usually a safe bet that what they reveal will likely come to fruition.

Once an official announcement is made, we will update this page with all the juicy details!

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