“It’s almost showtime!” That is the message from Epic Games, confirming what Fortnite players have been speculating about for months. Five Nights at Freddy’s is officially coming to Fortnite as the centrepiece of Fortnitemares 2026, the game’s annual Halloween event that begins on 1 October.
The collaboration had been heavily teased. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria already appeared as a location on the island during Fortnite’s Override season, and recent Fortnitemares build-ups hinted at security cameras and familiar FNAF dialogue echoing through the map. Now, a short trailer has made it official: the Fazbear Band has taken over Battle Royale, and players will need to survive the night if they want to make it to morning.
Four Animatronics, One Pizzeria
The trailer confirms four of the franchise’s most iconic characters will join the game as playable skins: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Each skin comes with a Withered edit style — a battle-damaged alternate look that mirrors the worn-down, unsettling appearance the animatronics take on throughout the Five Nights at Freddy’s games. It is a detail that fans of the franchise will immediately recognise.
According to leaker HYPEX, the skins will also be reactive in combat. Footage in the trailer shows both Bonnie and Freddy losing parts of their faces after being struck with a Pickaxe, an unsettling touch that stays true to the horror franchise’s identity. Beyond the four main skins, the trailer also confirms a Mr. Cupcake Back Bling and a set of Fazbear Kicks, suggesting the cosmetic bundle extends well beyond the animatronics themselves.
Key mechanic: Players who defeat an animatronic boss can apparently transform into that character themselves, taking control of the creature and attacking other players from its perspective.
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria is expected to become a named location on the Chapter 7 Season 4 map for the duration of the event, similar to how past collaborations have temporarily reshaped points of interest across the island. The pizzeria will also serve as the setting for a dedicated game mode where players must survive the night and defeat the animatronics as bosses.
What Else to Expect
The trailer’s closing moments feature The Living Tombstone’s well-known FNAF theme song, strongly hinting that a matching Jam Track is on the way as part of the collaboration. Jumpscare-themed emotes and franchise-inspired harvesting tools are also likely additions when the full Item Shop listing goes live, though Epic has not yet published pricing or a complete bundle breakdown.
Fortnitemares 2026 launches on 1 October as part of a major update to Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4. The FNAF partnership is the event’s headline collaboration, but not the only one — leaks have pointed to additional horror-themed crossovers joining the event in the coming weeks, making this one of the most stacked Fortnitemares line-ups in recent memory.
A Collaboration Years in the Making
Five Nights at Freddy’s has been one of the most requested Fortnite crossovers for years, and the franchise’s creator Scott Cawthon has been teasing the partnership publicly alongside Epic. The fact that the pizzeria was already built into the Override map before the official announcement suggests this collaboration had been in development for some time — a deliberate rollout rather than a last-minute addition.
For Fortnite, Fortnitemares has become one of the game’s most anticipated annual events, regularly featuring high-profile horror crossovers that bring new players back to the game. Adding Five Nights at Freddy’s — a franchise built entirely around survival horror and animatronic terror — fits the event’s tone perfectly. Whether you are there for the reactive skins, the boss fights or simply the novelty of seeing Freddy Fazbear running around a battle royale map, October 1 cannot come soon enough.
