Epic Games faced backlash from players after officially revealing the Poison Ivy Fortnite DC Summer Skin ahead of the July 16 update. Many fans accused the battle royale maker of “nerfing” the Hot Bat Summer cosmetic after it looked drastically different from its initial marketing material. That said, is it all just a misunderstanding?
Fortnite DC Summer Poison Ivy Skin Sparks Backlash
When the Fortnite Hot Bat Summer event was recently revealed, many players were surprised by the battle royale’s bold new swimsuit cosmetics. The DC Summer Skins featured Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman in beachwear that was more revealing than previous crossovers in the online shooter. However, Epic Games faced a wave of backlash today after posting its “This Week in Fortnite” shop preview, as the Poison Ivy skin looked significantly different from the previous marketing material.
In the Fortnite DC Summer Skin shop preview posted on X, Poison Ivy’s bikini top appears to have been changed from the official artwork Epic Games released just a few days earlier. This led many players to accuse Epic Games of “censoring” or “editing” the Hot Bat Summer outfit just hours before it’s set to be released on July 16, 2026. “Can you please fix Poison Ivy?? She didn’t look like this in the original image! Thanks!” popular Fortnite streamer QT Sparkles wrote on X, for example.
Another user commented, “I feel kind of scammed by the Poison Ivy skin. Where’d it go?” Over on Reddit, players also questioned why the shop preview didn’t match Epic Games’ Hot Bat Summer key artwork. “Why would they do a promo picture with a completely different design? I hope it is an edit style.”
Epic Games Deletes Hot Bat Summer Skin Preview After Poison Ivy Backlash
Following the backlash, Epic Games quickly deleted the DC Summer Skins shop preview video from all of its social media accounts. It’s unclear if this was the result of mistakenly posting the wrong skin or for another reason. At the time of writing, Epic Games has also not released an official statement on the situation.
However, it should be pointed out that it’s not confirmed the Poison Ivy summer skin shown in the shop preview was the only version of the cosmetic. Dataminers, for example, have theorized that Epic might have used an “early version” of the skin in the preview trailer, while others have speculated that the Hot Bat Summer Poison Ivy cosmetic might also have an “edit style.”
This would make sense, as Catwoman is also wearing a skirt in the Fortnite shop preview that isn’t present in the Hot Bat Summer artwork. All this to say, the backlash may be premature. Only time will tell whether the final version of the Poison Ivy DC Summer Skin matches Epic Games’ original promotional artwork.
The post Fortnite Players Accuse Epic of “Censoring” Poison Ivy DC Summer Skin appeared first on VICE.
