Neymar during the PSG-OL match at Groupama Stadium in March 2021 -

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

Football takes over

Fortnite

.

And who better than Neymar to embody this turning point?

After having "recruited" rapper Travis Scott last year,

the game continues its transfer window with the football superstar.

A partnership brought to make children in the future in the sport "in 2021-2022" to enrich its universe beyond the "royal battle", explains its editor Epic Games.

If music and cinema have integrated the game in 2020, it is the turn of sport to take full place in 2021. A year rich in leading competitions with the Euro, the Copa America or the Olympic Games of Tokyo.

"Sport holds a big place in the lives of our players, it is very important for us to have a sports representative in the game," says Nate Nanzer, head of global partnerships at Epic Games, publisher of

Fortnite.

.

To launch the sixth season of chapter 2 of the game, Epic Games will give its 350 million users the opportunity to “unlock” Neymar's avatar and play the Brazilian number 10 in the game. “In the same way that in

Fortnite

you can play as Batman, Deadpool, Iron Man or some iconic heroes from movies, books and TV, now you can play with one of the greatest soccer players in the world, ”says Nate Nanzer.

A (very) strategic image choice

For Epic Games, which wanted to "set the bar very high" in its choice of sports muse for

Fortnite

, the partnership with Neymar "makes sense" for "several reasons".

Fan of video games who broadcasts his games live on Twitch, Neymar is above all "one of the most followed personalities on Instagram" with nearly 150 million subscribers, recalls Nate Nanzer.

“Football is strategically very important to us because we are a global game with a huge player base in Brazil, in Europe, where football is not just a sport, but a way of life,” he adds. he.

After signing a partnership with the professional American football league NFL at the end of 2018,

Fortnite

stepped up in football in early January 2021 by offering its players the opportunity to acquire skins in the colors of 23 clubs such as Manchester City, Juventus or even the AC Milan.

"If you are a big football fan, you can show your support for your team in

Fortnite

like you do in real life when you walk in the street with a 'kit' in the colors of PSG," said Nate Nanzer.

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