One of the leading Fortnite informants, ShiinaBR, proposed a new ‘Thinking’ emote that had been kept in the game files for a period of approximately 900 days before the decision was made to sell it. The announcement also highlighted a very common practice of Epic Games where it keeps ready-to-go cosmetic items hidden away for a long period of time wishing often the loyal player community gets frustrated. The emote’s debut has ignited a discussion about a developers’ vault of content and what other unreleased items could be.
That’s just unbelievable, like really seriously, 900 days?? This is a duration of more than two and a half years that this tiny animation has just been idling in the code, waiting for its turn to release. ShiinaBR, who has become the town crier for all Fortnite leaks, wasn’t able to find a better way than to use a skull emoji because, honestly, that wait is just deadly. The emote is already on sale at the item shop and if you wish to grab it, you can use the creator’s code ‘Shiina’ for Shiina support. That is really nice, I mean, what could be better than supporting the messengers who tell us these things?
But the focal point of the whole story is not just the emote but also people’s reactions. The replies to the tweet are just delightful, literally a perfect example of the Fortnite community’s perpetual love-hate relationship with Epic’s vaulting practice. One player, MF2M, immediately popped up with the burning question: “Will we finally get Treadin? Squeezie Does it? Enticing Pie?” He has called out already the other emotes and cosmetics that had been leaked and then… nothing. Only radio silence. It looks like Epic has an entire secret warehouse stuffed with dance moves and sprays that they are just keeping for themselves.
In fact, the players have started the wait game. Another user, UnhingedFN, was so furious that he outright accused Epic in a response that the company has “a large stash of emotes, sprays, wraps, and the like… all ready to be released in the game files.” He pointed out that the ‘Ammo’ emote just got released after a year while the ‘Snowblower’ emote took two years. It is a cycle and gamers are starting to recognize it. If you are not selling it, then why produce it? The money is just lying there waiting for you to pick it up!
The conversation in the replies is a bit chaotic but that is a typical sign of a true gaming community moment. One of the participants posts a GIF of another much-discussed emote where the character has a hand on their head. Someone else jokes that the new ‘Thinking’ emote is a collaboration with Ace Attorney, which is, okay, that is actually a pretty good joke. Then there is this random political comment about a “gay ass democrat skin” that just comes out of nowhere and is quickly silenced by someone else asking what a wolf skin has to do with politics. See? Chaos. But chaos that is enjoyable.
Also, people are seizing this chance to ask for their own personal white whales. A user, karkkfn88, is pretty much begging for the Ciri skin from The Witcher, arguing that the company is going to “make so much money” but it’s “too much to ask” from them. Another person is still hoping for “Praise the Storm” and yet another one is just shouting “Gemini soon !!!” It’s a whole wishlist parade going on in the comments.
And then there are the jokes. Among them, my personal favorite was by Todd Gakk who said, “I have underwear older than that… psst please.” Which, to begin with, is quite gross. But on the other hand, it sort of underscores the point about how ridiculously long 900 days is. Sinisterknows also pointed out that this was uncovered back in chapter 4 season 3 which seems like a prehistoric time in Fortnite. The game has undergone total map changes, story arcs, and like, three music icons during the time this emote was first seen.
So what is it, Epic? The community is very eager to know. Is it a marketing gimmick to generate hype? Is it a strategy to stagger the content releases so that the item shop always has something “new”? Or is it simply a case of forgetting about it? The players are about to reach their breaking point but the excitement when something finally drops is still there. It’s a strange cycle.
The entire case of the ‘Thinking’ emote is a clear illustration of live service gaming as it is today. The developers have an immense amount of content ready to go yet from the players’ perspective the release calendar seems arbitrary. For the Fortnite players, it fosters this weird culture where the data miners are the heroes and every item shop refresh is a moment of anticipation for PlayStation and Xbox gamers alike.
