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Video games love Lebron James. The latest evidence is that the basketball player and star of the upcoming film Space Jam: A New Legacy will now be a playable character in Fortnite.
James arrives in the Fortnite Item Shop at 5 p.m. Pacific time on July 14, while the film with James and Looney Tunes characters debuts in theaters on July 16.
It looks like Space Jam: A New Legacy will be groundbreaking for Lebron, as he has already appeared in other games such as Candy Crush Saga because of the film. He also has his own set of exclusive Xbox Wireless Controllers and a fan-inspired Space Jam game. Forbes magazine recently said that James is on track to have $1 billion in career earnings by 2022, and perhaps Fortnite is what’s going to get him there. In 2021, James is expected to hit $95.4 million in earnings thanks to his salary and endorsements, media, and memorabilia.
We know of course that item sales such as the Lebron James character are the main sources of revenue for Fortnite, which has more than 350 million registered users to date. Thanks to the Epic v. Apple antitrust trial, we know that Epic’s internal documents show that it made $3.8 billion in revenue from Fortnite in 2019 and just $98 million from Unreal Engine royalties. The fledgling Epic Games Store, started in 2018, was expected to outpace the 25-year-old engine division’s revenue in 2020 by 4-to-1.
James will have two separate outfits in Fortnite and his signature shoes, the Nike LeBron 19. The King James bundle includes the Lion Pickaxe, Wingspan Glider, and James’ on-the-court celebration, The Silencer.
LeBron’s matching Outfit, Back Bling, Lion Pickaxe, and Wingspan Glider all feature a progressive edit slider — allowing you to add more than 20 gold variations of the outfit.
Available separately, players can suit up as Tune Squad LeBron before the premiere the new Space Jam.
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