Why Epic Is Bringing The Late Juice WRLD To Fortnite

When the Fortnite Chapter 5 and Remix Finale event takes the stage in-game on November 30, it will feature a pack of four iconic musical artists: Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Ice Spice, and Juice WRLD. Like previous in-game concerts, such as those starring Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, the event is likely to be a kaleidoscopic audiovisual roller coaster. Still, by including the late Juice WRLD, who passed away in 2019, this in-game concert will also be decidedly different from any before seen in Fortnite: It will be the first to use an artist's likeness posthumously, something that Hollywood is also grappling with as of late.

GameSpot recently spoke to Nate Nanzer, Epic's head of global partnerships, in a music-focused interview that hit on the developer-publisher's decision to bring Juice WRLD, whose real name is Jarad Anthony Higgins, to Fortnite. Nanzer told me Epic had long hoped to do something like this with the late artist and explained why the company feels now is the right time.

"It's something that our players have been asking for for years and years and years, and we've wanted to do it, but we wanted to find the right moment," Nanzer said. "We obviously want to do it in the most respectful way possible. We worked very closely with his mom and his label, and we were able to find the right moment where it felt right, around this event, and he has new music coming out, so all the stars kind of aligned around this moment."