In 2026, Fortnite is less a battle royale and more a very loud mall where every store is a crossover. I say this with love. I am the kind of player who logs in for the skins, stays for the chaos, and pretends my terrible aim is a creative choice. So when the Raiden leak floated around, I did what any mature adult would do: I stared at a character model and argued with my own reflection about spiky hair.
The Leak That Launched a Thousand Complaints
The story was simple: a leaked character model showed Raiden joining Fortnite alongside Snake, and Epic had gone with his Metal Gear Solid 2 design rather than his Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance look. Nothing official at the time, but reliable sources were sharing it, so the writing on the wall was neon and probably glowing. Solid Snake was reportedly arriving later that day, which meant Raiden probably was not far behind. In Fortnite terms, that is basically a same-week friendship bracelet.
Metal Gear Solid fans were pleased, obviously. Raiden plus Snake is a dream team. But not everyone was sold on the design. And by not everyone, I mean a very loud corner of the internet that had already mentally equipped Raiden with his Revengeance cyborg ninja glow-up. I get it. I really do. Rising Raiden looks like he could cut a skyscraper in half and then post about it. MGS2 Raiden looks like he just got off a very stressful phone call.
A Very Serious Table of Raiden Vibes
| Category | Metal Gear Solid 2 Raiden | Metal Gear Rising Raiden |
|---|---|---|
| Hair | Fluffy, tragic, wind-tested | Sharp enough to violate safety codes |
| Outfit | Tactical onesie energy | Cyborg ninja runway |
| Sword | Classic | Absolutely unreasonable |
| Vibe | Confused but trying | Unstoppable and slightly unhinged |
| My emotional state | Respectful nod | Foaming at the mouth |
Look, there is nothing wrong with the MGS2 design. It is classic. It matches Snake's era, it makes sense for a crossover that wants recognizable Metal Gear history, and it gives us the version of Raiden who had not yet become a human blender. Epic probably looked at the two options and picked the one that says, “Yes, this is the Metal Gear Solid crossover,” rather than, “Yes, this is the Metal Gear Rising spinoff crossover.” That is a reasonable business decision. It is also deeply annoying to the part of my brain that wants to run across the Fortnite island as a cybernetic lawnmower.
Why I Still Want the Rising Raiden
Here is my completely unsolicited list of reasons the Revengeance look would have been fun:
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The sword alone would have made every pickaxe swing feel like a cutscene.
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The outfit is loud in the best way, and Fortnite is a game where a giant fish can do a victory dance.
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It would have given Rising fans the “he is finally here” moment they have been waiting for.
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I want to hear my squad say, “Why is Raiden glowing?” and have no good answer.
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Nostalgia is great, but sometimes nostalgia needs a jetpack and a legally questionable blade.
That said, I am not going to pretend the MGS2 choice is a crime. It is more like ordering vanilla ice cream when the shop also sells a sundae with fireworks. Vanilla is fine. I will eat vanilla. I will simply think about the fireworks.
The Fortnite OG Side Quest
While I was busy having feelings about Raiden's hair, reliable leakers were also saying Fortnite OG would return as a separate game mode. That made a lot of sense to me. A separate OG mode keeps the nostalgia crowd happy without locking the main mode into an endless loop of 2018 references. It also gives Epic room to make OG a more permanent thing, which players had been asking for. From a business perspective, it is almost too obvious: Fortnite OG was a smash hit, seemingly bigger than Epic expected for such a short event. Give the people their old map, their old guns, and their old “I used to be good at this” complaints.
The original report also noted that the latest Fortnite update had not gone live yet, which is the most Fortnite sentence ever: please wait, the chaos is buffering. Who knows, we might have seen Raidens running around much sooner than anticipated. Alongside a bunch of Peter Griffins, of course.
In 2026, I look at all of this and laugh. Fortnite has become a crossover machine with a bottomless appetite, and the Raiden leak is a perfect little snapshot of why it works. We get hype, leaks, design debates, and a bunch of Peter Griffins doing emotes in the same lobby. What a time to be alive, right? 😅
So yes, I will keep an eye out for Raidens running around the map. If I see one, I will nod respectfully. If I see a Revengeance-style Raiden, I will scream. Either way, I am ready.