As Fortnite's current season winds down, the community isn't debating whether the Ice King or the Foundation will prevail. Instead, players are locked in an online war over a collaboration with a controversial streamer reportedly coming in the next season—revealed through a new piece of artwork.
An image purportedly showing the Fortnite startup screen for Chapter 7: Season 3 features an in-game creature seemingly inspired by TheBurntPeanut, a streamer accused of using homophobic language online.
The initial reaction to TheBurntPeanut potentially appearing in Fortnite's next season was overwhelmingly negative. Fans shared clips of him allegedly using a homophobic slur and laughing at a player who begins to utter a racial slur.
"I just don't understand man, it's really not that hard to do background checks, Epic Games is literally allergic to them for no reason," wrote Blortzen, a prominent Fortnite fan on X/Twitter. Others noted the unfortunate timing of the reveal, coming at the start of Pride Month.
Amid initial confusion over who the character was meant to represent, Fortnite's senior director Chris (known as "EpicTofu") confirmed it was indeed a collaboration with TheBurntPeanut—prompting hundreds of negative responses to his post.
Fortnite has long struggled to fully engage with its massive online fandom, though Chris and other developers have recently tried to be more communicative via social media. However, this typically invites a barrage of demands from the game's vocal fanbase whenever they post.
Hours after confirming the collaboration, an alleged screenshot from a private group chat surfaced, showing an account appearing to be Chris stating he planned to take a break from communication because the online toxicity was affecting his personal life.
This then sparked a backlash against the initial backlash, with fans criticizing the harassment directed at Chris, who seemed unaware of the streamer's past.
"You guys bullied one of the people who brought STRONG communication to this game all because you have no brain power to realize he is not responsible for every single little thing added to this game," Blortzen later wrote. "Genuinely pathetic behaviour from all of you who harassed him."
"So many devs were active on here ever since this chapter dropped, showing genuine excitement for upcoming seasons, the Ice King & Foundation rivalry, the Community Day, and they even played Fortnite with the community," agreed high-profile Fortnite leaker Shiina. "But it only takes 1(!) collab that the usual negativity spreaders do not like for them to harass the devs to the point where they no longer feel comfortable spending their time on this platform... disappointed but honestly not even surprised. I don't need this collab either, but it would never cross my mind to harass the developers because of this."
Chapter 7: Season 3 is scheduled to begin this Saturday, June 6, following a climactic live event the day before. This event will conclude the conflict between Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Foundation and the Ice King, with players' experiences differing based on which side they chose. Fortnite will then return online after downtime with its next season, named Runners, which will bring back creatures resembling new versions of previous Sprites. These critters could be found across the battle royale island, offering power-ups or special abilities, and could be carried around. The new TheBurntPeanut variant—one of many additional types—is expected to function similarly.
IGN has contacted Epic Games for comment and will update if we hear back.
