Epic Games has added an in-game tribute to professional Fortnite player Shxrk in the game's v42.40 update, marking the moment he finished seconds short of winning the 2026 Fortnite Global Championship, Esports.gg reported.
The Easter egg sits in the tunnel southeast of Lifty Lodge. Partway along the tunnel is an indent in the wall with a Fishtick portrait, where a chest now sits inside a shark pool float. According to Esports.gg, the tunnel previously held nothing of note.
The tunnel is where Shxrk's championship run ended. Going into game 12, Shxrk and his duo partner t3eny were in third place and needed to eliminate back-to-back LAN winners Vic0 and Malibuca to overtake them. The pair pushed and eliminated both players, but t3eny went down early, leaving Shxrk to finish the game alone. While rotating, he was caught in a tunnel with no Medkits and the storm circle against him. Esports.gg reported that three more seconds would have earned the duo enough points to take first place; instead they finished second overall.
Shxrk, who is 15, found the tribute himself and shared it with his more than 100,000 followers. The post drew more than 190,000 views and hundreds of comments, Esports.gg reported, with players both lamenting how close he came and praising Epic for the nod. The outlet described the tribute as temporary.
