‘Fortnite’ is continuing its love affair with the world’s most beloved video game characters with the introduction of Aloy from ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ and a unique new game mode that also involves ‘Tomb Raider’ Lara Croft.
Of course, Lara Croft being in ‘Fortnite’ is nothing new, as she was added in the Season 6 Primal updated earlier this year. Players can find their favourite ‘Tomb Raider‘ in the ruins of Stealthy Stronghold, where she offers special quests in exchange for gold bars and can even be hired as a bodyguard for the remainder of a match.
While she can predominantly be found on the west side of Stealthy Stronghold, she is a character with a mind of her own and will wander around the entire area. So don’t be discouraged if you do not find her straight away, and always keep a lookout for other like-minded players who could also be looking for Lara Croft.
‘Tomb Raider’ is one of the most significant video game franchises of all time and is one of the first video game characters to have been successfully adapted to film. The franchise has an immense following around the world. It is the holder of six Guinness World Records, including “Most Magazine Covers for a Video Game Character”, which is a testament to the cultural impact the games and films have had over the years.
To commemorate ‘Tomb Raider’s 25th anniversary, the Oscar-winning prop company Weta Workshop created a limited edition Lara Croft figure that sold for $1 500 each. There is even a Lara Croft slot game by Microgaming that can be found at some of the best slot sites, such as Slots Million. So it makes sense for ‘Fortnite’s developers, Epic Games, to keep her around for as long as they can.
And that’s where Aloy and ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ come in. Every company in gaming recognises the potential of ‘Fortnite’, a game with over 350-million registered players. And, with the release of Horizon Forbidden West just around the corner, Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerrilla Games is keen to get its franchise back in the public eye by partnering up with ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Fortnite’.
Aloy and Lara Croft will be teaming up for a limited time in an exclusive co-op mode in which only bows and pistols are allowed, and two players take on the environment. Aloy is also the second first-party PlayStation Character included in ‘Fortnite’, after ‘God of Wars’ Kratos, signifying the increasingly close relationship between Epic Games and Sony Entertainment.
This can further be seen in a recent round of new funding received by Epic Games that amounted to a staggering $1-billion, $200-million of which came directly from Sony, which, interestingly, was also the only company Epic Games mentioned by name in the funding call to make the announcement.
‘This round includes an additional $200m strategic investment from Sony Group Corporation, which builds on the already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces their shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services’, Epic Games said in the statement.
The new investment means Epic Games is now worth more than $28-billion and is being driven to new heights by income from ‘Fortnite’ and licensing the Unreal Engine to would-be game creators. Unfortunately, its Epic Games Store has not fared as well. Information from its court case with Apple revealed the company had lost more than $450-million on its online game store.
That is unlikely to slow Epic Games down at all in its bid to overtake Steam as the dominant force in online game sales, and it clearly has the bank balance to cover some losses for the foreseeable future.
