[GameSpot] - Fortnite LeBron James Skin Leaked Alongside King's Bling Quests

[343iBot]

Fortnite dataminers are at it again, this time apparently unearthing a major crossover with LA Lakers star LeBron James. The King's Bling Quests and associated cosmetics seem just about ready to arrive in the game, and we could see The King drop onto the island of Apollo in just a few days with a brand-new Fortnite LeBron James skin.

Dataminers say the King's Bling Quests will allow players to earn various cosmetics for the basketball superstar beginning next week when he arrives on July 14. Across his cosmetic set, players can gild their items like Fortnite's gold-obsessed original anti-hero, Midas. If players complete all of LeBron's related challenges, they can eventually unlock a gold slider, letting them choose just how gilded they want each item to be.

While images of the Fortnite LeBron skin or his related accessories like Back Bling, Pickaxe, and Emotes have not yet been discovered, they're expected to be decrypted by the always avid Fortnite datamining community when Fortnite patch 17.20 goes live next week, a day before LeBron's expected due date.

The launch of LeBron is corroborated by a recently commissioned mural spotted in Chicago which vaguely teased a new addition to the game, though before these datamined leaks, it wasn't yet understood what it meant. The mural merely mentioned a date, July 14, 2021, and featured what looks like a future fantasy Back Bling and gold crown for what we now assume is the LeBron James crossover set.

The assumed launch date also fits nicely with the launch of Space Jam: A New Legacy which stars LeBron James and debuts in theaters on July 16. We've seen Epic release tie-ins with similar attention to timing, like the recent Loki skin which came on the heels of the villain's Disney+ premiere.

The LeBron James Fortnite skin was previously leaked as a potential future collaboration during the Epic versus Apple court battle. Some of the other leaked skins at that time, like Batman Looper, have been released since then, while others, like Naruto, haven't appeared in the game yet and may never do so. Those same court proceedings did tip off the Fortnite community to the recent NBA crossover, however.

We don't know yet whether LeBron will be a paid or free cosmetic, but given that Season 7's midseason "secret" skin is Superman, we expect LeBron to fetch a few V-Bucks in the Item Shop, making his associated King's Bling Quests entirely missable for players who don't buy the set.

While we wait for The King to hit the Courtnite--er, Fortnite--we are all witnesses to the incoming Week 5 Alien Artifacts and Week 5 challenges.

View the full article