Fortnite X Star Wars was a limited event within Epic Games' Fortnite Battle Royale, to promote Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. It began on December 14, 2019, and ended on January 7, 2020, coinciding with Fortnites Winterfest event. The crossover event was officially announced on December 8 on Fortnites Twitter and in-game, and cosmetics for Rise of Skywalker characters Finn, Rey and a Sith trooper were made available on December 12. Later that day at The Game Awards 2019, Donald Mustard announced that a TIE Whisper Glider would be granted to all players for free during the event.
A screenshot during the event, using the Rey outfit
The live event took place at Risky Reels, a location on the Fortnite map. It started with the Millennium Falcons arrival and landing attempt, before a First Order fleet arrived, sending three TIE fighters after the Falcon, which was able to destroy all of them. Afterwards, the Falcon landed at Risky, and Geoff Keighley exited as a hologram, welcoming everyone, before bringing out Ben Schwartz, in character as a stormtrooper named FN0143. Shortly after, the pair welcomed director J.J. Abrams out in front of the crowd, who discussed The Rise of Skywalker, and provided a vote for what the players thought the scene would be, between Darth Jar Jar, a Jedi mind trick, the Knights of Ren and a Rey and Kylo power ballad; ultimately, the mind trick had the most votes which turned out to be the correct scene.
The live event showed a small clip from The Rise of Skywalker, in which Rey, Finn and Poe board the Steadfast, ending with Rey using a mind trick to make the stormtroopers allow their entry. Following it, a new vote took place allowing players to select their favorite lightsaber color, but the fleet of Star Destroyers returned, causing the trio to quickly rush back onto the Falcon. As they left, Sheev Palpatine's voice stated, as the players entered slow motion, that it was the "day of the Sith." Immediately after, players were granted access to lightsabers—of the color they chose in the previous vote. The rest of the game was a team deathmatch using lightsabers only.
Following the event, Fortnite X Star Wars properly took form, with TIE fighter crash sites scattered around the map, and lightsabers were added to the game for a limited time, along with First Order Blaster Rifles which could be found at the crash sites.
A lightsaber and blaster rifle in game
Fortnite X Star Wars brought lightsabers into the world of Fortnite, allowing players to choose between Kylo Ren's, Rey's, Luke Skywalker's and Mace Windu's. For the duration of the event, players were able to obtain these weapons in the Battle Royale mode from special chests.
During Fortnites Winterfest event, players were able to open one in-game gift per day. Two of these gifts were Star Wars themed, one being a Millennium Falcon Glider, and the other a Backbling depicting the Sith logo.
On December 21, new cosmetic outfits were added, bringing Kylo Ren and Zorii Bliss into the game.