On Friday, Fortnite leaker HYPEX revealed that three new Jam Tracks featuring the virtual artist Kizuna AI are being added to the game. The titles “Mirai,” “Future Base,” and “Hello, Morning” come up with the indication of the game still working on its musical collaborations along with the divided reactions of the gaming community.
HYPEX was like, “Here comes the deal” and the reactions of the players were mixed. Some of them seem really thrilled exclaiming “Future Base let’s gooooo!” and that’s okay. Then down you go and a great number of people simply confess that they are lost and have no idea about Kizuna AI. One of the comments was “I can speak for all, we didn’t ask for this” which sounds quite rude but let’s face it, it is probably true for a large part of the community. Fortnite is not the one that chooses among the most popular artists but rather the most underground ones and the patrons of that genre will be glad but for the rest, it is just another collection of songs at the jam stage that they might not even use.
And then there is the whole…thing about her name. Obviously, there is. One person said “They’re inviting AI instead of Teto now” which was the start of a mini-thread with people saying things like “she’s not AI that’s just her name” and others going “Please tell you know she isn’t A.I.” It’s a funny mix of people who are familiar with VTuber culture and those who are just seeing the word “AI” and getting confused. Like, wait what was I saying? Oh right, Kizuna Ai. She is a virtual YouTuber, one of the first major ones, and her name is Ai. It’s not a machine but the kind that exists in our world is not similar to ChatGPT. But you can understand how the confusion occurs, especially these days.
The comments are basically a mirror of the Fortnite community, to be honest. You have got the ones who are excited, the ones who are perplexed, and the ones who are asking for other collaborations like “Chainsaw man??” or “Regular show when?” at the same time. One user even said, “Now show us something like Metal Gear wave 2,” which, same, but that’s a different conversation. It’s pandemonium, but it’s the usual kind of pandemonium that comes with a Fortnite leak.
What’s actually curious though is someone pointed out that she “is getting more love than half the festival artists,” making her three whole tracks sound like a big deal. And another user retorted softly that, “This is literally what they’ve been doing with every artist since, like, Bruno.” So it looks like three songs are the standard package, which is fair enough. But it does seem like a lot for an artist who is not that popular in the west, ya know? It’s a giant leap for Epic. They are all in with the Festival mode propagating all the music types being there.
The big question gamers are asking in the replies is the practical one: “do we have to buy them separately or will they be included in the bundle?” HYPEX couldn’t answer that, so we are just left with our speculations. Most likely they’ll be sold one-by-one and possibly as part of a Kizuna AI bundle if she goes with a skin, which feels very likely given the pattern. If she gets a skin, you just know the locker is going to be packed with them doing the griddy or whatever the next trending emote is.
In the end, this is just how Fortnite works now. It’s a gigantic pop-culture blender. Today it’s Metal Gear Solid; tomorrow it’s a 2016 Japanese virtual singer. It brings the game a fresh, weird, and colorful look even if half of the players are confused. For the VTuber fans, this is a big win, a clear sign that their niche hobby is going mainstream. For others, three more tracks are simply added to the list. Whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit that Epic is taking no chances, and that is what makes the game’s ecosystem so unpredictable and somewhat fun to watch.
This collaboration highlights Fortnite’s unwavering strategy to be a digital culture platform of all sorts, far from just shooting. By incorporating a character like Kizuna AI, Epic is gradually winning over the loyal and growing VTuber community by offering them content that is officially in-game. Although it might be hard for some conventional players, these tactics will only serve to reinforce Fortnite’s unique identity as a social hub where gaming, music, and the internet’s subcultures are constantly mixing, thus guaranteeing that there is always something new to talk about, even if that is just people arguing over what an “AI” actually is. Meanwhile, on other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox, gamers have their own questions and collaborations to discuss.
