The partnership is another chapter in Fortnite's previously seen trend of blending pop culture with gaming, such as concerts by Travis Scott and virtual appearances by Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga.

Some people drop into Fortnite for loot ... I’ve owned the Ariana Grande skin for a bit. There’s nothing quite like sparkles, a shotgun, and ponytail physics that laugh in the face of gravity.

In the lawsuit, Epic Games has been arguing that Grande and Scott’s performances were created ahead of their concerts in Fortnite, so they aren’t recordings “of a prior experience that ...