Epic has once again dropped the KATSEYE emote on the Fortnite item shop. Yes, that’s right; if you missed it before you can grab it now through the official link they post. But honestly? Player reaction has been… really mixed.
First things first: if you don’t know what KATSEYE is, one of those maso emotes in Fortnite that have been heavily pushed under the music and dance theme. It’s rhythm-based, you know? But going by the reply tweets, it actually feels like a lot of gamers… well, they have their… feelings.
One player, Rave the Ravenous, just unfiltered: “Yuck. One of two emotes I bought and regretted.” Ooh, that hurts. Not the best endorsement of what Epic is trying to push again. But then there’s AquaV / Badff with, “Yes! New emotes and Jam Tracks! Going to be checking that right now.” So, you see, the community is really split down the middle.
What is fascinating, however, is the other things that players want. There’s a massive group out there wanting emotes and jam tracks from the KPDH collab. In case you do not know what KPDH is, it’s that gigantic K-Pop collaboration Fortnite threw. Gamers are genuinely unhappy about this slowing of the rollout. One user, Y2k Humorless, posted, “Nah bro idgaf I want KPDH emotes” with a frustrated face emoji. You could almost hear the impatience in the air.
-And it isn’t just KPDH, either. People want all kinds of emotes that may or may not have even been seen in the shop. “Where tf is fast slow disco!!!!” demanded chaerypi. User jblanc4rd expressed it concisely as “we need gnarly.”The demands are being fired everywhere, and the problem is one-sided for Epic anyway; they’re only hearing some of them.
There’s a whole mess of debates about the way Epic handles these collaborations. koruxy1 hit upon something quite telling: “why when it’s collabs with rap men or girls who only twerk they add all the cosmetics with 30 different styles and when it’s kpop we have to wait 4 weeks to have the other cosmetic emotes 😡😡” That’s… actually a really good point. It does seem like some partnerships get comparatively way more love than others right from the jump.
Meanwhile, some players just don’t want to hear it anymore. Seahawkfan1108 didn’t hold back: “Damn these icon emotes are absolute trash, bring in more classic song and dances. Tired of this gen Z and alpha BS” Which, fair enough? Not everyone’s into the new music stuff. Fortnite has always been a balance of divergent tastes.
That KPDH situation in general looks dirty. Royal Alec tried to clarify, “well they don’t call it a dkph collab they call it a kpdh collab and they did add the characters aswell as a new game. they also added the songs slightly into the new gamemode” But other players aren’t having any of it. They want the full experience, and they want it now.
The nutsness is in how personal some of these demands get. PRNCSSKELLE asked, “when’s scooby-doo coming out? 🙄” as if they’re just casually waiting for a cartoon dog to show up. And khloetintin posted a pic of some character with “Just patiently waiting for him 😌” – dedication, folks.
Item shop rotations would always be a headache for Fortnite. Players see something leaking and then sit through weeks and sometimes even months for the actual release. Just a few days back, lester_lis26611 said, “Where has the groove out emote gone .it was leaked the beginning of September they could of put that in tonight” – a very good example of the disconnect from what gets datamined and what will or will not actually make it into the shop.
And there’s that whole gift economy. ctrlalfonso begged, “someone gift it to me 💔” because not everyone can afford to shell out money for just about every new cosmetic that is thrown in. It’s a weird social dynamic in Fortnite.
So finally, KATSEYE only patches an already big-for-the-human-cosmetic universe that Fortnite is. Some players are happy to own it at last; some are regretting ever buying it, and tons more are wondering when THEIR fave will hit limelight. Demand and delayed satisfaction seem to top the list of Kodak moments for Fortnite these days. Good or bad – well, that is the debate. One thing for sure: everybody’s talking about Epic, even though players have not been getting what they want when they want it.
K-Pop Demon Hunters fans on PlayStation and Xbox continue to wait for more content.
