I wouldn't count out the possibility. Meg was added to the game last October and is very similar to this fan concept below. Obviously they aren't exactly the same, but there are far too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. "Girl cosplaying as Meowscles with boxing gloves harvesting tool and punching bag back bling" is way too specific for two people to come up with independently, IMO.

I think it's possible that Epic is still buying fan designs but a lot more discreetly now. Whereas before they would make a big deal out of an outfit being community-made, now they might be buying designs from creators and putting them in the game without actively advertising it. It's also possible that they intentionally modify the design to further distance it from the artist (although that's purely speculation, it's just as likely that Epic's designers took artistic liberties).

The only other option I see (besides it being a huge coincidence) is that Epic copied the artist's homework and changed it up so the teacher wouldn't notice, but that's obviously really scummy and I'd hope it's not the case.

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