Live-service games increasingly rely on crossovers with external IP, expanding beyond in-game partnerships into broad media tie-ins. Fortnite demonstrates near-universal crossover inclusion, while Overwatch 2 targets anime fans with collaborations such as Cowboy Bebop, One Punch Man, and Persona. Some titles like League of Legends limit external tie-ins to protect original worldbuilding. Crossovers frequently serve as recurring microtransaction opportunities, appearing very often in live-service schedules. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege exemplifies a problematic mismatch by adopting incongruous skins and franchises, which undermines its tactical cohesion and alienates players who expect strategic, communication-driven gameplay.
Fortnite now features basically every character ever created, and Overwatch 2 is cornering the market of disenfranchised anime players via collabs with properties like Cowboy Bebop, One Punch Man, and, most recently, the Persona franchise. While some games like League of Legends have avoided too many of them, preferring to build their own vast worlds and media empires, it's undeniable that the crossover is en vogue these days.
Unfortunately, having borne witness to the actual products of these crossovers has made me less than enthused with the shooter, which has long been heralded as one of golden children of the live-service bubble. I've talked a bit about cohesion during this ranking, and Rainbow Six Siege suffers from perhaps the biggest disconnect in its tone and the nature of its crossovers.
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