No pride activities this year but a Harry Potter collab? Fortnite is getting dragged and rightly so

Fortnite has previously always been a very inclusive game, despite its reputation as a sweaty place for hardcore gamers and / or eager 12 year olds. For years, us LGBTQ players have enjoyed a Rainbow Royale celebration in the item shop where we get cosmetics to celebrate pride. This year, not a peep – but what we did get was a collab with Harry Potter which has obviously upset a lot of Fortnite players who are trying very hard to completely disengage with that IP after everything JK Rowling has been saying for the past five years regarding the rights of transgender people. Some major Fortnite leakers, who have a huge platform based on posting about what is coming to the shop, have completely ignored the existence of the Harry Potter collab – but it’s getting dragged and people are fuming.

The person who leaked the collab put out a very good statement

The Fortnite leaker behind the Harry Potter collab coming early dragged that collab in a lengthy post, which was impressively well put to be honest and speaks volumes about values. Fortnite Undergound said the following:

“Last year, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling claimed that Imane Khelif, a female boxer, was actually born as a man. There’s just one issue: they weren’t. There’s been a sentiment around this collaboration that goes something like “you can separate the art from the artist,” but that is a significantly harder ask when the artist is using their royalties to fund lawsuits and legislation that intentionally damage the quality of life of transgender people around the world.

Opinion – I was the leaker who spoiled Harry Potter coming to #Fortnite. Here’s why ⬇️

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Last year, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling claimed that Imane Khelif, a female boxer, was actually born as a man. There’s just one issue: they weren’t. There’s been a sentiment around this… pic.twitter.com/tzKv18jYeK

— Fortnite Underground (@FNBRunderground) December 18, 2025

“In the past, Fortnite stood for what was right. In 2020, the release of Chapter 2 Season 3 was delayed by a week in respect of ‘ongoing injustices in society’ in response to protests that occurred after George Floyd was killed by a police officer. One year later, Fortnite featured an event, ‘March Through Time,’ which recognised the work of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. And until this year, we’ve seen annual Rainbow Royale events celebrating LGBTQ+ members of the Fortnite community. This year, there was no Rainbow Royale event, nor were there any other activism efforts in Fortnite.

“Like many companies, Epic Games seems to be rolling back these efforts due to the political climate in the United States. And, perhaps as a result of investor pressure, Epic Games has recently loosened their restrictions around what they’ll add to Fortnite – last month, we saw Outfits promoting Kick, and earlier in the year, a major collaboration with controversial streamer Kai Cenat.

“And now, Harry Potter. Most people won’t care. These Outfits will probably sell pretty well, most people will be happy to see one of their favorite childhood franchises come to the game, and Epic Games and J.K. Rowling will make plenty of money. But I’m not okay with that, and I hope you’re not okay with it either. So, why I spoiled Harry Potter coming to Fortnite? I wanted to ruin the surprise so that less people would buy it.”

Yikes

It’s a very damning statement and one that had me thinking a lot about how crazy it is we no longer got Rainbow Royale celebration. I didn’t even notice at the time, but it’s shocking. Hopefully in 2026 Fortnite listens to the communities on these matters.

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