Skip to main content

Ninja can now play as himself in Fortnite, and so can you

Ninja is perhaps the most famous video game streamer in the world, moving from Twitch to Mixer and still managing to grow a huge following on the smaller platform. If you’re ever wanted to be like Ninja, we don’t know what to tell you, but you can now be Ninja in Fortnite with the help of a new player skin.

Recommended Videos

Beginning on January 16 at 7 p.m. ET, you’ll be able to get a Ninja skin from the Fortnite item shop. It looks just like the famous streamer, with his bright teal hair and a yellow headband. Alongside the outfit, the item shop will also offer Back Bling, a custom emote, and the Dual Katanas Pickaxe. We’re not sure how effective a katana, or even two, would be in crafting and destroying structures in real life, but in Fortnite, they will do the job.

I've dreamt of having a skin in Fortnite since I started playing the game. Today, my dream becomes reality. Get the Ninja Fortnite Skin in the Epic store Thursday 6 p.m. CST-Sunday 7 p.m. Don't forget to use code NINJA! #NinjaSkin #EpicPartner pic.twitter.com/xTn9UlbkGI

— Ninja (@Ninja) January 15, 2020

The thought of seeing Ninja coming after you in a battle royale match is terrifying, though perhaps a little less so when less-skilled players start making use of the skin and get eliminated at the very beginning of a match.

Ninja collaboration with Fortnite is the first in what Epic Games is calling its “Icon Series,” which will feature additional partners such as Loserfruit and TheGrefg. Other creators will come from the entertainment industry, and the series is building on what was previously done with Marshmello and the trio Major Lazer.

Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, reportedly made $50 million when he signed a deal with Microsoft to stream exclusively with Mixer. He was later joined by former professional gamer Shroud — real name Michael Grzesiek — as Microsoft continues to challenge Twitch for streaming dominance.

Alongside the Ninja skin news, Fortnite also introduced a “sidegrading” feature into battle royale with the latest update. This allows players to turn the Assault Rifle weapon into the Heavy Assault Rifle with a special machine on non-competitive playlists. iOS controllers now support clickable analog sticks, as well, bringing the experience closer in line with that on traditional consoles. You can check the update out now on all supported systems, including Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and PS4.

Introducing Weapon Sidegrading
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Astro Bot isn’t on Xbox, but you can play these great platformers on Game Pass
Raz runs on a colorful stage in Psychonauts 2.

Astro Bot is an undeniable win for PlayStation. It's not just a celebration of the brand and many of the franchises that built it into what it is today, but it's also a fantastic 3D platformer that uses the PS5 hardware in creative ways. As a Sony-published game spotlighting the history of the company, it's obviously not on Xbox. In fact, I've seen a lot of people lamenting that Xbox does not have a lot of good platformers in the wake of Astro Bot's well-received launch.

Although it's accurate to say that Xbox doesn't have an exclusive quite like Astro Bot, a few excellent 3D platformers are available on Xbox Game Pass. Many of them are even IP now owned by Microsoft or outright published by Xbox Game Studios. If you have an Xbox console and Game Pass subscription and feel like you're missing out on Astro Bot, consider playing one of these games to make that feeling a little less painful.
Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2

Read more
You can finally play as a cockroach in VR with this Kafka-inspired game
A lower view of a cockaroach on a throne.

Metamorphosis VR Game Launch Announcement (10/10/24)

Have you ever read Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis and thought, "I sure want to try being that depressing cockroach"? Well, Metamorphosis VR, a virtual reality port of the 2020 indie game Metamorphosis, can sort of help with that by letting you play as a cockroach.

Read more
You can now see how many times you failed at Connections
The new stats feature in Connections on two mobile screens. On the left you have the new share results screen. On the right are the full stats.

The New York Times is known primarily for Wordle and its crossword, but that doesn't mean its other games won't get some love. Case in point: Connections, the word game that tasks players with recognizing patterns among a group of 16 words or phrases. It's known for being fun but sometimes obscenely difficult, and thanks to a new stats feature, you can now see how many times you've failed.

The newspaper announced Tuesday that Connections players will now be able to see their stats in the app, "including the number of puzzles completed, the number of 'perfect' puzzles, win rate, streaks and more." It's available on iOS, Android, the New York Times news app, and in the browser.

Read more