Everyone has an opinion on the new epic games announcement. It seems the focus is on Fortnite, where, on the 3rd of September at 8 pm ET, an artist named d4vd will issue a new track named Locked & Loaded which will become Fortnite’s official anthem. The Fortnite culture has always been centred around music, and this is a step that many were looking forward to.
The news came out with the classic Fortnite teasers “Wait, what’s that? 👀”. With the announcement of d4vd’s collaboration, the community also found out that the artist, who has already made a name on TikTok with tracks such as “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me”, would be a part of the track. The title “Locked & Loaded” embodies the Fortnite spirit and is a nod to the battle royale.
The comments section is the most interesting part as it is filled with an incredible number of mixed reactions to the announcement. While a good fraction of people are excited about the official anthem, the vast majority seem to show disapproval.
One player asked, “WHERE’S THE BLITZ UPDATE,” another stated, “Give that man his skin.” Comments such as, “Give us a d4vd skin,” “PLEASE GIVE US A D4VD SKIN!!!” are very encouraging, as they demonstrate the hope people have that Epic is cooking something.
But hold on – some players are not feeling the new anthem. In reaction to the new track by d4vd, one user commented “This will forever be the first Fortnite anthem for me” and linked the viral “Chug Jug With You” meme song. That track was pretty much the unofficial anthem for many players back in the day.
There is some misunderstanding because I believe people, or the community, think no one knows “Who the fuck is David?” The funny part about this is that d4vd is pronounced “David.” Burke David is his real name. The TikTok phenomenon has been slowly becoming a music artist in the industry and is now 18 years old.
Other comments seem to be random—one is asking for weapon balance and medallions, another is asking for a Supernatural collab for Fortnitemares, and after that, someone is referring to the days remaining until their ban is lifted. This, for the most part, is typical Fortnite Twitter chaos.
What is most ceasing is how the community is so divided on what is a “real” Fortnite anthem. Some of the players are all in to the official anthem whereas the other halves keep their loyalty to meme songs that originated from the community. It appears player-generated content and corporate branding are fighting it out.
It should be noted that the timing of the announcement seems to be purposeful, as it borders the beginning of September, which is an ideal time to launch a new season. It seems like Epic wants to use the anthem to advertise Season 5, or it will be a part of the game’s Festival mode. On a different note, people are commenting all over asking to make d4vd a playable Festival skin, which would be the perfect gift.
Along with the speculation revolving around the Fortnite anthem, there’s more speculation whether this is the Beavis & Butthead collab everyone was looking forward to? As one user commented, “this isn’t Beavis and Butthead,” which makes me wonder if people were expecting something else next.
Fortnite could be the only game franchise that is taking gaming and music collaborations to an unknown level. In addition to the in-game concerts of Stargates like Ariana Grande and Travis Scott, they are now making official anthems.
From the look of things, I can tell that Fortnite has a lot of passionate fans because of what the game means to them. While some are willing to accept whatever is offered to them from Epic, a huge faction is against it and stands in favour of the community-driven content which marked the early days of Fortnite. This official vs organic battle is the most fascinating in the context of Fortnite’s relationship with its players.
Neither d4vd nor Epic has cleared the air on whether “Locked & Loaded” will be the official anthem for Fortnite or not. However, I am certain that Fortnite players will be tuning in to listen to d4vd capture the essence of Fortnite on September 3, 8 pm ET.
If that’s the case, I think it is equally unknown as to whether the much awaited d4vd skin will be released the same day. If this is in fact the scenario, then that would be an absolutely remarkable marketing strategy. In addition to this, Fortnite never fails to amuse the audience with constant innovations in video games, music, and special attention to their community, all the while a lot of the comments are filled with some other sort of grumble.
