2023 saw Travis Scott make a triumphant return to the spotlight after taking a year off in the wake of the tragedy at his 2021 Astroworld Festival. While the fallout still hasn’t settled (and neither have the families of the victims currently suing Travis and Live Nation over the 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries), Scott was able to roll out his new album Utopia and its accompanying Circus Maximus tour without incident, and by all accounts both have done extremely well.
However, one place he’s yet to return is Epic Games’ massively popular shooter Fortnite. The nearly unbiquitous game had a pretty year of its own, expanding its game modes and incorporating even more celebrity partnerships into the game, including appearances from Eminem and The Weeknd. While Travis Scott and Fortnite are two of the biggest brands around, fans of both have been disappointed that the rapper’s highly coveted character skin has not returned to the game since its debut in 2020 as part of Fortnite‘s first-ever virtual concert event.
The concert, which broke several Fortnite records, was accompanied by the skin for a limited time. Since the skin has not een made available since, it’s become one of the rarest in-game skins. Fans who missed out the first time around have wondered online whether the rapper had been blacklisted due to the Astroworld tragedy, but Epic CEO Tim Sweeney refuted those claims earlier this year.
“Travis Scott is welcome in Fortnite,” he wrote on Twitter. “I’m just not in the loop on item shop rotations so I don’t know what’s coming when, or what specific agreements with celebrities and brands affect the timing of those decisions.” Considering how much work goes into these things, it’s no surprise that the limited-edition release hasn’t come back; besides, Travis’ prior brand collabs have proven that he’s protective of his own brand and he may not even be interested in diluting the hype around his Fortnite skin by bringing it back.
Meanwhile, Dot Esports reported that a prominent leaker datamined assets from the game’s Test Item Shop, suggesting that it might return sometime in the future. For now, all fans can do is keep their fingers crossed and hope he headlines another in-game event. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about his own stage props attacking him there.