The new Fortnite Battle Royale season trailer settles the question. The ship in the fog was not a tease: Epic Games' video for the "Treasure Hunters" season previews One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Buggy the Clown, along with the Straw Hats' ship the Going Merry and a pirate-themed Hatsune Miku.
A second visual released alongside the trailer adds Nico Robin and Ace.
The season launches on November 1. Epic teased the crossover on October 25 with a six-second clip of the Going Merry breaking through mist on a moonlit night, and the full trailer arrived this week with the character lineup attached.
What the trailer confirms
Six Straw Hats, one villain, and the ship. Buggy's presence is the interesting one, since he is the only character in the lineup who is not a Straw Hat, which suggests the season's theme has room for antagonists rather than treating the crew as the whole roster.
Hatsune Miku in pirate dress is the kind of thing Fortnite does without explanation. She has been in the game before, so a themed variant in a pirate season fits the pattern of putting a familiar skin in new clothes.
Nico Robin and Ace showing up in a still image rather than the trailer leaves their status open. They could be shop items, part of the battle pass, or something added mid-season.
How Epic runs these
Fortnite has been collecting anime licenses for years. Naruto Shippuden was the first Weekly Shonen Jump series to join, back in 2021. Dragon Ball and My Hero Academia arrived in 2022, Attack on Titan in 2023, Cowboy Bebop in 2025, and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War in December 2025.
Black Clover is the most recent example and the most useful one, because we watched the whole rollout. Epic teased the Asta cosmetic in the Fortnitemares trailer on September 29, then put Asta, Yuno and Noelle on sale October 3 with grimoire back blings, three pickaxes, a weapon wrap and a Black Clover car body. A short clip first, the full set a few days later, prices and all.
One Piece is following a faster version of that script. Teaser on October 25, trailer with the cast on October 28, season on November 1.
Why this season, why now
The timing is not random. The first One Piece Mugiwara Store in the United States opens at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles on November 6, with entry limited to people who reserved ahead from November 6 through 12. A Fortnite season starting five days earlier puts One Piece in front of an audience that mostly does not read manga.
Studios and licensors have been treating Fortnite as a promotion channel rather than a licensing payout, and the calendar shows it.
Where the anime stands
The Elbaph arc debuted in Japan on April 5 and streamed on Crunchyroll. The anime closed out 2026 with episode 1180 and confirmed a 2027 return, so the show is between blocks right now. That is when a franchise does its loudest licensing business, because there is no weekly episode to promote instead.
What is still missing
Prices, the battle pass lineup, and whether the Going Merry exists on the map as a location or only as a prop in the trailer. Fortnite seasons get their full reveal in the days before launch, so those answers should land this week.
A full One Piece season with map changes would be the largest anime crossover Epic has attempted. Six skins and a ship is already more than Black Clover got.
Source: Anime News Network, citing Epic Games’ official Fortnite channels
Featured image: The Going Merry in Fortnite's season teaser, via Epic Games.
