Fortnite's mecha-monster battle was its most impressive live event.

The players of Fortnite who happened to start the game this afternoon were treated to a cataclysmic showdown between a giant robot and a terrifyingly large monster.

The result was a kaiju-inspired battle reminiscent of Pacific Rim and with clear nods to Voltron and other mecha and anime cartoons.

It was exciting to see it live, even though I watched it on my iPhone screen, instead of the PlayStation 4 that I normally play on .

The event has been weeks in the making, with developer Epic Games performing its now-standard trick of hints and subtle reveals that helped curious gamers piece the puzzle together.

There was the eye of the monster hidden in the frozen ice of the Polar Peak game location, whose owner broke free and began to swim around the island..

By the time the robot was being built inside the map's once active but now dormant volcano, it was pretty clear to players what Epic was planning: a world-shaking showdown between the two titanic beings.

The battle began some distance away, with the robot firing missiles at its enemy before closing the gap with a tackle that sent both flying across the map.

Where is the Fortnite movie already?

Players who had been watching the build-up to the event were able to purchase one of two emotes, a pro and a robotic monster, while Epic also designed a cat-themed pink robot mask for the game.

On this occasion, Epic gave everyone an unlimited jetpack to capture the action from any angle they wanted.bot and appeared to be on the verge of winning. But by drawing sources from some element of the island's power (we've seen it before with the rocket that created a huge rift in the sky and past events ?? that have taken players to another realm. ) the robot pulled out a sword buried beneath the ground. (It was tentatively hidden beneath the statue in Neo Tilted, with the statue itself forming the hilt of the blade.)

The robot put it through the monster's skull, and then launched into the sky, leaving behind the skeleton of the creature with the sword stuck through it. It is now a map element in all game modes.

Epic now has a storied history of increasingly sophisticated live events, beginning with the rocket launch that took place in June of last year and continuing with subtle map changes and creative experiments in collective action that allow players to affect direct effects on the world.

Since the rocket's launch, there has been a live concert with electronic artist Marshmellow and a massive in-game poll that allows players to decide which popular item will recover from its retreat into the vault, which was followed by a volcanic eruption.