Epic Games has brought back the XXXTENTACION emote to Fortnite‘s item shop, and the reactions vary a lot. Not everyone is expressing their gratitude for the return of the emote, and the comments on the announcement tweet clearly show how divided the community is.
To begin with, we should clarify what this emote signifies exactly. It reproduces the real-life dance moves of the late rapper in his music videos and concerts. The emote plays the artist’s music and gives the player the freedom to perform the character’s unique gestures. In case you’re not aware, XXXTENTACION was a very popular rapper before his tragic death in 2018, and he was known to stream Fortnite at that time. Thus, the link between the two makes this partnership feel momentous for both music and gaming lovers.
However, this is precisely where the problems begin. The responses to the announcement provide us with a very clear glimpse of the division within the gamers. There are gamers, for instance, who are extremely elated and who even go so far as to say ‘Amazing buddy’ through the username Nir7ann and others who cannot wait for this emote to come so badly that they post comments like ‘Cant relate been waiting for this to come back just becuz its xxx’ from user WhereYaaMomAt, who definitely exhibits his excitement about the rapper’s involvement in the game.
On the contrary, still, many players criticize the emote as nothing less than garbage. The user hardlyquittin just said ‘Trash emote’ with a crying emoji while nezii_fuwa went even further and stated, ‘This emote will eternally irritate me’ and called it ‘disgusting.’ Ouch. That is pretty intense!
What was I just saying? Oh, yes, the controversy. The controversy is not only whether the emote looks good or bad. There is a whole moral debate going on very actively in the replies. User mg_KEZER asked very pointedly ‘Didn’t he beat his girlfriend?’ bringing back the rapper’s troubled past and legal issues. This prompted users to argue very heatedly among themselves whether it is still fine or not to have someone with XXXTENTACION’s history in the game even if he has passed away.
User JoJSoos clashed with several users arguing that ‘he’s dead so it don’t really matter at this point,’ while others responded that monetizing a deceased person’s likeness raises moral questions. User 0NEMORETlME remarked that XXXTENTACION’s mother controls his estate and has been approving merchandise since his death, which means she would have likely backed this Fortnite collaboration too.
Some players are just left wondering why this particular emote was selected. User aliltwig wrote ‘It’s just so lame. Should have used a different song, and especially a different move,’ while Raddkann lamented that ‘my goat finally got an emote and it’s dogshit.’ It appears even some of the artist’s fans wish Epic had featured different aspects of his work.
And then, there are the technical problems. User greengamer11481 was asking about codes that do not work, others were talking about the missing emotes like ’15 minutes,’ and requesting different collaborations altogether. User Flashboi04 simply demanded ‘where’s the KPDH emotes at????’ showing that not everyone is occupied with the XXXTENTACION drama.
However, what is truly extraordinary is that this also signifies Epic Games’ persistent practice of blending gaming with the pop culture of the day. They have done this with everyone from Marvel superheroes to NFL teams, and music artists are a major part of that. The game has witnessed everything from Travis Scott’s concerts to Marshmellow’s events; hence, the introduction of XXXTENTACION’s emote definitely falls under their strategy of crossing entertainment boundaries.
But this specific collaboration is different due to the artist’s murky legacy. He was, on the one hand, a massively influential figure in music and had a dedicated fanbase. The other hand might regard his legal problems and personal controversies as concerns and thus reject him as a game character. It is that singling out sometimes unacceptable personal behavior and still celebrate artist contribution that has everyone so agitated in the replies.
User edgemetax arguably captured it all with ‘There is no way success can ever come from playing this’ although it is not very clear whether they referred to the emote specifically or battle royale in general. Be that as it may, it is a pretty dramatic view.
In the end, regardless if you love it or hate it, the XXXTENTACION emote is available for purchase in Fortnite’s item shop! Players can either buy it to expand their collection or skip it and wait for the next significant collaboration. Given the rapidity with which Fortnite rotates its shop items, this one will not probably last long, so anyone interested should pick it while they can.
The entire incident is a good showcase of how real-life controversies can greatly complicate gaming collaborations. It is not only a matter of whether an emote looks cool, but also of the messages we are sending and the artists whom we are supporting, even if they are gone. And since Fortnite is exhibiting no signs of slowing down their crossovers, we should expect more debates like this in the future.
Thus, let’s just say that’s the current state of affairs concerning the returning XXXTENTACION emote. Some players are celebrating, others are disgusted, and everyone has a view. Pretty much a regular day in the Fortnite community, to be honest.
