Darren Jason Watkins Jr. is an American content creator with an online alias of IShowSpeed or Speed. The YouTube streamer has gained a fan following for his viral streams, on which he primarily plays video games. One of the prominent games on his streams is Fortnite.
For a few years now, fans have asked for the famous streamer to be incorporated into the game in the form of a personalized skin. Fortnite already has around 1,500 skins in the game. They regularly use content creators for skins as part of their ICON series, creators like Ninja, LazarBeam, Bugha, and Lachlan have skins as part of the series.
In the case of Speed, the simple answer is no, the American content creator doesn’t have a Fortnite skin in the game. However, there are plenty of concept videos on the Internet in which IShowSpeed has been rendered into a game as a playable in-game skin.
Speed himself has reacted to a few of these on his stream with his audience. During these streams, he has always expressed his dream to be incorporated into one of his favorite games of all time. EPIC Games, the company behind Fortnite, has always been cautious about using content creators, and the same is evident in Speed’s case, which has a very controversial history.
Fortnite might not collaborate with IShowSpeed due to his controversial history
Even with his controversies and antics, IShowSpeed has been on a steady rise in popularity around the world. He recently reached 21 million subscribers on YouTube after his successful tour of India. However, Fortnite is one avenue where Speed’s antics might be the roadblock for him.
EPIC Games plays it safe when it comes to in-game skin. They use many criteria apart from popularity for choosing content creators for their ICON series. One of the recent inductees, SypherPK, is a prime example. The content creator’s squeaky-clean history and his contribution to the community were one of the key factors of his incorporation.
iShowSpeed Gets an Icon Skin in Fortnite 100% REAL 😂#FortniteMEGA pic.twitter.com/O4yxxCi3iu
— NinjaLavaBoy 👻 (@NinjaLavaBoy) March 30, 2023
In comparison, Speed content is engaging enough on its own, but it is not dependent on Fortnite and doesn’t hold as much weightage in Fortnite’s community.
On the other hand, EPIC games are very strict with their image in modern times. The same was evident when they banned Rue’s Fortnite skin due to a minor resemblance to a Nazi outfit.
The incorporation of Speed into the game in the form of skin will come with its own baggage, especially considering Speed’s ban from games like Valorant by Riot Games. Judging the current content of Speed and Epic Games’ policies, it is safe to assume that the possible collaboration between the two looks like a distant possibility.