On January 17, 2025, Update v33.20 brought King Kong to Fortnite as an Epic outfit that players could purchase for 1,500 V-Bucks. But while the dizzying pace of our contemporary culture might make it hard to remember, King Kong existed in media long before he could hit the Griddy or kill Sabrina Carpenter for sport. That big, beautiful ape has graced decades of treasured art—art like Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, which just received a fan patch to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its 2005 launch.
The 2000s were a time of social, political, and cultural transfiguration: The global paradigm was reeling beneath the impact of 9/11 and the United States' ensuing War on Terror, the internet was ascending as the universal medium of informational and commercial exchange, and everywhere people wondered: How would director Peter Jackson follow his success with the landmark Lord of the Rings trilogy?
