Fortnite is always looking to sell things besides skins themselves, which has resulted in additions like back bling, shoes and now pets. “Sidekicks,” they’re called, and now we have our first look at them in-game.
The idea is that your Fortnite sidekick will run along with you during gameplay. They’re not going to leap on your enemies and kill them, but they will “react to the world around you,” and if you use them enough, you can unlock cosmetics for them.
Promotion is starting to ramp up officially for the launch of sidekicks, one of which is coming in the Simpsons pass, another you may be able to get for free depending on whether you already own a specific back bling. So far, we have:
- Bonesy (if you own the back bling, you get him as a free sidekick)
- A Peely dog (not sure if this might be an alt style for Bonesy)
- A Pug
- A German Shepard
- Lil’ Raptor
- A fish in a bubble
- Some sort of cat(s) (not shown yet)
One weird thing is that you can only customize the appearance of your sidekick once, similar to how Maya worked previously in the game, and it’s permanent. But there are indications you can buy them again and do a different style. That seems…annoying.
Here is a trailer with Peely and his Peely dog doing some interactions:
And then another one with the Raptor:
I certainly think this is a more interesting introduction to Fortnite than shoes, though I’d say it’s going to be at least a little weird to have an entire lobby running around with little pets in tow. I am wondering what happens when you do things like climb or build fast, and where exactly they go from there. Can they jump really well? Do they teleport? And can other players uh, shoot them? My guess would be no on that last point. It does not seem that these will have any actual effects on gameplay, which makes sense given that you don’t really want to give an advantage to those with them or without them. So, mostly emotes and funny reactions, I guess.
Information is still rolling out about sidekicks, the range of them, and when they are coming to the game. I’m still seeing more go live as we speak, and I will update this post if anything new and interesting is added. Right now, it seems like this system will launch with 6-7 or so companions, unless there are a bunch being hidden right now. But expect dozens in the coming months, no doubt.
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