The Simpsons Season brought new life to Fortnite 

The Simpsons has been running for 37 seasons, making it the longest running sitcom of all time, but its audience in recent years is a small fraction of the numbers the show pulled in its peak era. On the other hand, Fortnite player counts have been in the millions ever since the realise of the game back in 2017. Eight years after the release, the game is still near the top but needs to work hard to maintain its player base and stave off a decline. So, the two entertainment giants both had a lot to gain in by combining their fans in this collab. 

The Simpsons Mini season came at a perfect time for Fortnite.  Player counts in early 2025 were on the decline and with a big Star Wars cross over not seeming to do the job, with an average player count of just over one million players during the collab season and falling to 940,000 the following month, something new and exciting was needed. Epic Games used this collaboration to experiment with different aspects of the game which seemed to grab the interests of many new and returning players.  

It worked extremely well. The Fortnite Simpsons mini season saw a large increase in player count with a peak of just under 2.6 million players shortly after the live event.     

The Simpsons season was the fourth ever mini season to exist in the game, following The Star Wars Galactic Battle, Chapter 2 Remix featuring Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice and the throwback to the original Fortnite seasons in Chapter 4: Season OG. This mini season would only last one month and brought the Simpson family as well as some other Springfielder’s such as Ned Flanders, Moe Szyslak, Itchy, Scratchy and Krusty the Clown as playable characters. Springfield itself was brought to life as the battle royale map along with weapons and items referencing moments from the show. 

Over the past few years, collaborations have become standard as Fortnite seems to fold in every IP in existence.  The list of collaborations seems to go on forever: players can purchase skins of Marvel superheroes, Star Wars characters, NFL teams, pop stars like Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter, and characters from countless shows, movies and other games from Dragon Ball Z, Stranger Things to K-Pop Demon Hunters. A common joke is for someone to point out a famous person like John Cena in real life and say, “Hey it’s the guy from Fortnite!”  

Collaborations not only boost revenue with the edition of many purchasable items within the item shop, but also bring new and returning players who may be fans of the featured franchise. One 16-year-old player who I will call John says that he has bought a lot of collaboration skins. “My first was the Marshmello,” he told 8forty, “which then quickly jumped to Marvel and Star Wars.” 

But sometimes things don’t go as planned. In May 2025, Fortnite put out their third mini season featuring Star Wars called Galactic Battle. However, prior to its release the season didn’t receive much attention at all and failed to revive the game in the way that Epic Games had hoped. This resulted in Fortnite player counts to hit a two-year low at an average of below one million players in June 2025.   

With the addition of the brand-new Simpsons-inspired map, Fortnite developers decided to experiment by making the map a lot smaller. To compensate with the smaller map, Epic lowered the number of players to only 80 in each game instead of the usual 100.  

“I actually like the smaller map with less players,” said John. “The games are faster and there’s always other players to fight.”  

The average Battle Royale game ranges from 20-30 minutes including queue time, but when playing this season, games tended to average between 15 and 25 minutes with the smaller map and lower player count.  

“I would like to see this smaller map and lower player count combo in the future,” Fortnite player Kelvin Nguyen told 8forty. “The faster games make it more engaging to play for long periods of time.”  

Along with the new Simpsons-inspired map, Epic Games also introduced a lineup of special weapons and items inspired by the show. In one episode, Moe Szyslak shows off his creation to a meeting of the local chapter of the NRA. “With a few minor adjustments, you can turn a regular gun into five guns,” he says, showing off a farcically complex contraption. Fortnite made the “5 gun” a working in-game item. 

They also created in-game versions of Bart’s Slingshot; a weapon confusingly called the Deodorant Applicator. Turns out it’s from a scene in which the alien Kang tries to downplay his raygun: “It’s a . . . deodorant applicator,” he offers, unconvincingly.  

Out of all the guns that were taken from the show, the most beloved gun was by far the Mr. Blasty. This is a reference to a throwaway gag from the show when the townspeople are turning their guns in for destruction. Homer has already given up a cardboard box full of his guns (Bart and Maggie each had their own boxes), but Lisa noted that there was still one last gun still to hand in. “Not Mr. Blasty!” Homer protests, caressing the revolver affectionately.  

Now Fortnite players have had the chance to share his appreciation. “I loved the Mr. Blasky,” said Kelvin Nguyen. “As long as you have good aim the gun is overpowered.”  

“The gun is so fun, I really hope they bring it back in future seasons,” said a 16-year-old player who I will call Christian.  

Guns were not the only items that were implemented from the show. Other consumable items that give the player health and shield also made an appearance.  

Fortnite brought in Simpsons icon “Blinky” the three-eyed fish that swims in the that lived in water that was contaminated by the Springfield nuclear reactor where Homer lived. In the game it became a healing item that also allowed you to dash around the map for a short period of time. Players had mixed feelings about it overall.  

“I think it’s super underrated,” said Christian. “With the lack of mobility in this season not counting the shockwave grenades, the Blinky Fish is a good substitute.”  

The Krusty Burger was an uncommon item that healed the user for 30 health or shield. However, some found that the abundance of this powerful item was more of an issue instead of a positive. “The Krusty Burger was way too overpowered. I would just be running after someone, and they would just start eating the Krusty Burgers making them almost impossible to kill,” said Kelvin Nguyen. “If this item was ever added back, they would have to nerf the spawn rates or nerf the healing.” 

Another item added to this season was the Super Squishee which healed player and gave a boost to jump height, but which many players found forgettable. “Very weak and sort of useless,” said Christian.  

Fortnite brought Springfield to the map with locations and easter eggs from the show. Along with Fortnite adding notable buildings and structures from the show, they made the game cell shaded. “It made it feel like I was playing in a cartoon,” said Christian.  

Some of the main point of interests included Springfield town centre which had well known stores like Kwik-E-Mart and Moe’s Tavern, the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Burns Manor and Evergreen Terrace where Ned Flanders and the Simpson family lives. 

Throughout the map, there were easter eggs from the show. When walking into the Simpsons family house you were able to sit down on their iconic couch with up to three other players, if you shot the statue of Jebediah Springfield, its head would pop off, there were ramps which you could use to try to jump Springfield Gorge, and when you thanked the driver on the battle bus that transports all the players to the map at the start of the match, you thanked “Otto” giving the bus driver a name for the first time ever.  

“As someone who loves the show and grew up watching it, seeing all the different locations from the show and being able to explore them is super cool,” said Jack 

In a year when Fortnite struggled to keep players engaged, and player counts fell, it wasn’t pop culture juggernaut Star Wars that brought back players; it was a show from the 90s that somehow never got cancelled. 

Cover Image: Screen-Shotted by Blake Allen