This move would present a potentially massive opportunity for Web3 adoption by traditional gamers, given that Fortnite has had more than 242.9 million active players over the past 30 days, according to Active Player.
NFTs coming to @FortniteGame? That Nike logo at the end is from Nike’s @dotSWOOSH web3 platform 👀 pic.twitter.com/Erbecmfz18
— Chris Akhavan 🕹️ (@chrisakvn) June 16, 2023
The announcement was made on June 16 across Nike’s social media channels, stating that the “ultimate Sneakerhunt begins” on June 20. The accompanying video features Fortnite’s logo and Nike’s Air Max logo front and center amidst a backdrop of floating clouds in the sky. Then, the video transitions to reveal the name of the sneaker hunt, “Airphoria,” followed by Nike’s logo for its web3 platform.SWOOSH alongside the logo for Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
On 6.20 the ultimate Sneakerhunt begins. 🏙️🌬️ pic.twitter.com/QgMyA1uXRT
— Nike (@Nike) June 16, 2023
Details are currently scarce, but members of the NFT community speculated that Nike may have built an NFT-related game using Fornite Creative 2.0, which essentially enables users to create their virtual island game maps using Fortnite assets. As @clone_news_cn noted, “I remember that Fortnite recently launched Fortnite Creative 2.0, which has a strong self-built map mode similar to creating games on ROBLOX. I guess Nike may have used this mode to create a game. Two years ago, Nike also created a game on ROBLOX, but it was not combined with NFT[s] at that time.”
While it is not 100% confirmed if NFTs will be a part of Airphoria, SWOOSH’s involvement would suggest that it is on the cards, while Epic Games also holds a friendly stance towards NFT gaming. Nike’s NFT unit has been ramping up its efforts to edge its way into the traditional gaming space of late, and this potential collaboration with Fortnite could be a significant step towards that goal.
