According to a court document leaked during Epic Games' lawsuit with Apple, Samus Aran from the Metroid franchise was considered for a possible guest playable character in Fortnite, but was ultimately rejected by Nintendo. Executive Saxs Persson would later reveal that Epic has tried to negotiate with Nintendo several times in the past to include their characters in the game, but have continuously fallen through, stating:


While never outright stated, it's commonly believed that Nintendo's reluctance is at least in part due to their status as a "family-friendly" company, and feared any sort of instance that would reflect badly on the company (i.e. getting shot, performing certain gestures, and appearing on rival platforms).